TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention is related to an engineering field particularly to a mosquito trap. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Mosquitoes are blood-sucking insects, which apart from causing itchy rashes; they are also carriers of many diseases such as dengue fever and malaria. Mosquitoes go through four stages during their life cycle, beginning with the egg. They often lay eggs in waterlogged areas. The egg phase takes 2-3 days then hatch into larvae. The eggs develop into pupae after a week. Mosquitoes in the larval and the pupal stages still live in the water. They later become adult, flying mosquitoes, and will feed on the blood of humans or animals to further help them with reproduction and egg incubation.

Methods for getting rid of mosquitoes generally rely on a supporting device, e.g. an electrocuting mosquito light trap, and a device that lures mosquitoes by emitting carbon dioxide and holds the captured mosquitoes until they die of drying. However, these methods must rely on the assistance of electricity in order to function and can get rid of only adult mosquitoes, which is a lesser proportion of mosquitoes when compared to disrupting mosquito reproduction.

The disruption of mosquito reproduction can be done by eliminating mosquito breeding grounds, such as closing water-filled containers, and collecting wastes in drainage channels since mosquitoes tend to lay their eggs in waterlogged areas filled with stagnant and dirty water. In addition, there are methods for using supporting devices, as disclosed in the U.S. patent no. US9532560B2, as a mosquito trap which is a container with a top cover. Inside the container, there are water and a float sliding up and down in line with the height of the water to shift whereby its body is attached to a net that is coated with a mosquito attractant or mosquito repellent. The net must not be exposed to water, if so, the mosquito attractant or mosquito repellent will deteriorate. By the working principle of this trapping device, the float is coated with the mosquito attractant, and when mosquitoes perch on the device, it will make them exposed to the active substance which will stick to them and spread to mosquito breeding grounds, and subsequently kill the larvae, pupae and mosquitoes. However, the trapping device according to the invention has a limitation that it does not disclose configurations of the trapping device capable of luring mosquitoes in effectively.

In another example, according to U.S. patent publication no. US20060090391, it is disclosed a mosquito trap comprising a water container, a cover and a floating body equipped with a net. The floating body will move up and down in line with the height of the water which will not exceed a drainage hole located on the side of the water container. This floating body equipped with a net has the width of the perimeter adjacent to the water container enough to prevent the floating body from moving up and down more stably. However, this invention does not disclose a substantial size in helping to lure mosquitoes, and it is a method for luring mosquitoes in to lay their eggs and use the net to prevent the mosquitoes derived from the eggs from escaping when they grow into adult, flying mosquitoes. The invention does not mention a crucial feature that will help with the spreading of mosquito attractant or mosquito repellent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A mosquito trap comprises a vessel having an upper body and a lower body whereby the upper body has openings for letting the mosquitoes in, and the lower body has a drainage hole , characterized in that the height from the upper body to a lower edge of the drainage hole is 10-20 cm.

The objective of this invention is to design the mosquito trap to be suitable for luring more mosquitoes into the trap, which is advantageously increasing the chance of the mosquitoes being trapped since it is corresponding with mosquito behaviors that require space before reproduction and egg-laying. This results in mosquitoes taking an active substance that distributes to mosquito breeding grounds and kills a greater number of mosquitoes. Also, the compact size of the trap makes its transportation convenient.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the mosquito trap.

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the mosquito trap.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of the mosquito trap while water is contained.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the mosquito trap while water is not contained.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the floating member.

Figure 6 is a side view of the mosquito trap.

Figure 7 is a table showing experimental results of suitable heights from the upper body to a lower edge of the drainage hole.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the mosquito trap.

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of further embodiment of the mosquito trap.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in Fig. 1, the mosquito trap comprises a vessel 10 having an upper body 12 and a lower body 14, whereby the lower body 14 is designed to be capable of containing water in order to use for luring mosquitoes to lay eggs in the water, while the upper body 12 is designed to be a location where mosquitoes fly into the vessel 10. As shown in Fig. 2, the lower body 14 and the upper body 12 can be separated from each other.

At the upper body 12, there are openings 20 for letting mosquitoes fly in, which may be drilled to create a cavity or are formed by the shape of the upper body 12, such as a concave configuration which creates the space that also forms a cavity. In another embodiment that is not shown, the upper body 12 having openings 20 is intended to mean that the upper body 12 can be separated from each other into the top lid without a cavity, and a part having openings 20 may be attached to and become the same piece as the lower body 14.

The top of the upper body 12 has a water inlet hole 40 which allows water added in the lower body 14 by relying on rainwater, instead of an ordinary way of adding water that is opening the upper body 12 and pouring water into the lower body 14 directly. In a preferred embodiment, the top planar surface of the upper body 12 is a planar surface being inclined to the water inlet hole 40.

The lower body 14 has a drainage hole 30 whereby a lower edge of the drainage hole 32 is an indicator of the height of the maximum amount of water that can be added into the lower body 14. That is when water exceeds the level of the drainage hole 30, the water will be drained through the drainage hole 30 until the height does not exceed the lower edge of the drainage hole 32.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the inside of the vessel 10 comprises a floating member 50 for being perched on by mosquitoes with the coating of an active substance to make the substance stick to the mosquitoes and spread to mosquito breeding grounds, as well as subsequently kill the entire larvae, pupae and mosquitos. Making the floating member 50 capable of floating is due to preventing such substance from easily deteriorating from being exposed to the water.

In a preferred embodiment, to increase effectiveness in luring mosquitoes, a mosquito attractant is coated at the inner surface of the vessel 10, and the inner surface of the vessel 10 is a non-slip surface, whereby the non-slip surface is a surface having a matte or an unsmooth texture to help mosquitoes perch on more comfortably.

The floating member 50 as shown in Fig. 5 is of a cylinder shape corresponding with the shape of the vessel 10, which is a floating material 52 equipped with an encapsulating material 54. The floating member 50 floats up and down in line with the water level contained in the lower body 14 as shown in Fig.3. The floating member 50 is in the highest position when its level is the same as that of the lower edge of the drainage hole 32 and, as shown in Fig. 4, when there is no water, the floating member 50 is located at the bottom of the lower body 14. The encapsulating material 54 is selected from a net, sponge, fabric, fiber, plastic, composite material, polymeric material or a combination thereof. As it is a material onto which mosquitoes like to perch, the encapsulating material 54 is defined to have an outer plane 56 which is a side parallel to the wall of the vessel 10 and close to the wall of the vessel 10, and an inner plane 58 which is a side parallel to the wall of the vessel 10 and opposite to the outer plane 56, whereby the inner plane 58 is located 0.1-5 mm away from the wall of the vessel 10, which is the distance that makes the position where mosquitoes perch on the encapsulating material 54 at the position of the inner plane 58 enhance effectiveness to the fact that the inner plane 58 is close to the vessel 10 coated with the mosquito attractant. In a preferred embodiment, the inner plane 58 is 0.1-2 mm away from the wall of the vessel 10 whereby a position of the mosquito attractant coated at the inner surface of the vessel 10 is on the same level as the inner plane 58 of the floating member 50.

In further embodiment, as shown in Fig. 9, the mosquito trap comprises at least one carrier material (55) inside the lower body (14) of the vessel (10), whereby the carrier material (55) is adjoined to the inner surface of the lower body (14) of the vessel 10, is hung inside the vessel 10, or floats on the water surface inside the lower body (14) of the vessel 10 used for allowing mosquitoes to perch on, whereby said carrier material (55) has a coating active in killing larvae, pupae and mosquitoes. In addition, such active substance on the carrier material (55) can also stick to the mosquitoes and will spread to mosquito breeding grounds, whereby the said carrier material (55) is selected from a net, sponge, fabric, fiber, plastic, composite material, polymeric material or a combination thereof.

In further embodiment, the mosquito trap may consist of both the floating member 50 which is the floating material 52 equipped with the encapsulating material 54, and the carrier material (55) wherein the encapsulating material 54 and the carrier material (55) may be made from the same or different type of materials.

In an aspect of coating the substance, the mosquito attractant is coated at the wall surface of the vessel 10, and a disintegrating and mosquito killing agent is coated at the encapsulating material 54 or the carrier material (55). The mosquito attractant is not suitable for coating at the encapsulating material 54 or the carrier material (55), as after coating, it will change the surface of the encapsulating material 54 or the carrier material (55), such as porous appearance of the net surface will disappear, preventing mosquitoes from perching on the encapsulating material 54 or the carrier material (55) that is coated with the disintegrating and mosquito killing agent. Therefore, designing the inner plane of the encapsulating material 54 or the carrier material (55) to be in such position will help enhance effectiveness in making more mosquitoes exposed to the disintegrating and mosquito killing agent.

In designing the size of the mosquito trap to be effective according to this invention, different factors which will help lure more mosquitoes to fly in will be considered, in addition to the use of a mosquito attractant, that is some species of mosquitoes have the behavior where they would fly back and forth to nearby water sources before reproduction or egg-laying. Therefore, the mosquito trap must have enough space or distance to create an area that is suitable for egg-laying. An appropriate distance to create a flying space for mosquitoes before egg-laying is the distance of the height from the upper body 12 to the lower edge of the drainage hole 32 as shown in Fig. 6.

An experiment has been conducted to determine an appropriate distance of the said distance. By conducting the experiment, the mosquito trap according to this invention was compared with a trap available on the market or as the prior art of the invention which has a different height from the upper body 12 to the lower edge of the drainage hole 32. In the experiment, the setting created was a six square-foot cage that is built into which 30 mosquitoes were inserted, along with the mosquito trap according to this invention as Experiment 1 , and the mosquito trap according to the prior art of this invention as Experiment 2. After 4 days, which is the period when mosquitoes already feed on blood that will help eggs to mature and ready to lay eggs, the result of the experiments are as shown in Fig. 7.

From the experiment, it was found that the height from the upper body 12 to the lower edge of the drainage hole 32 will be able to lure more mosquitoes to lay eggs. The expected height from the upper body 12 to the lower edge of the drainage hole 32 is 10-30 cm, preferably 10-20 cm, and more preferably 10-15 cm.

Fig. 8 shows an embodiment of the mosquito trap that the openings 20 for letting mosquitoes fly in may be in other configurations and may further comprises handles which are assembled to the vessel 10 to increase convenience in transporting the mosquito trap.

The mosquito trap according to the invention is intended to be used to trap other kinds of insects as well, which may have the same behaviors as mosquitoes.

BEST MODE OF THE INVENTION

Best mode of the invention is as described in the detailed description of the invention.

USE OF THE INVENTION IN INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING, HANDICRAFT, AGRICULTURE OR COMMERCE

Industry, agriculture and commerce