Liquid bait station for ants and combined ant/rodent station

{
  "publication_number": "US5966863A",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "A",
  "title": "Liquid bait station for ants and combined ant/rodent station",
  "abstract": "A liquid bait station for ants has separate nested inner and outer container sections with the inner container forming a liquid bait reservoir. The inner container section or reservoir has a lid that is closed whenever the outer container is closed, and access to the reservoir of liquid bait by the ants is indirect via one or more container access ports leading to a compartment inside the outer container and then via separate reservoir access ports leading from the compartment to the reservoir. In one embodiment, the reservoir lid comprises a raised portion in the inner surface of the outer container's own cover and the reservoir access ports are formed by depressions in that raised portion. In a second embodiment, the inner and outer container sections have separate lids, but at least one tang depending from the outer cover closes and holds down the inner lid whenever the outer cover is closed. The reservoir access ports can be holes in the inner lid. In a third embodiment, the ant bait station can be combined in a single integrated unit with a rodent bait station, provided there is a separate internal compartment and separate access for the rodents, and provided a partition completely isolates the ant compartment from the rodent compartment.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A bait station comprising: a container with a lid closeable over the container, the container having at least one internal compartment defined therein, with one or more container access ports in said container leading from an exterior of the container to said internal compartment, said access ports being of a size admitting target creatures to said compartment, a reservoir for holding liquid bait for the target creatures, said reservoir located within said at least one internal compartment, said reservoir being entirely closed on all sides from said internal compartment at least while said container lid is closed except for at least one reservoir access port at a top of said reservoir allowing target creatures within said internal compartment access to liquid bait in said reservoir; wherein said reservoir comprises a box within said container with a hinged cover for said box separate from the container lid, said container lid having at least one hold-down tang depending therefrom and contacting a top of the box cover when the container lid is closed.",
    "2. The bait station of claim 1 wherein each said reservoir access port comprises a hole in the box cover.",
    "3. The bait station of claim 1 wherein said internal compartment is defined by a space inside the container around the box that forms the reservoir.",
    "4. A bait station comprising: a container with a lid closeable over the container, the container having at least one internal compartment defined therein, with one or more container access ports in said container leading from an exterior of the container to said internal compartment, said access ports being of a size admitting target creatures to said compartment, a reservoir for holding liquid bait for the target creatures, said reservoir located within said at least one internal compartment, said reservoir being entirely closed on all sides from said internal compartment at least while said container lid is closed except for at least one reservoir access port at a top of said reservoir allowing target creatures within said internal compartment access to liquid bait in said reservoir; wherein said lid is held securely closed by a vertical channel in an enlarged portion of a container wall, a hole in the container lid at a location matching said channel, and a stake insertable into said hole and said vertical channel.",
    "5. The bait station of claim 4 wherein said stake is threaded.",
    "6. The bait station of claim 4 wherein said stake has a length greater than said channel allowing the stake to double as a ground anchor.",
    "7. A bait station, comprising: nested inner and outer containers with the inner container having at least one side wall spaced apart from a corresponding wall of the outer container to define an internal compartment therebetween, and with the inner and outer containers having separate lids, the lid of the outer container having tangs depending therefrom which hold the lid of the inner container shut whenever the outer container is closed, the inner container forming a reservoir for liquid bait, the outer container having at least one access port therein leading to said internal compartment, the inner container having reservoir access ports in the lid of said inner container, said inner container lid being accessible from said internal compartment.",
    "8. The bait station of claim 7 wherein said inner and outer containers share a floor and front and rear walls.",
    "9. The bait station of claim 7 wherein said inner container includes a grid-shaped insert with walkways defined in an upper surface of said insert.",
    "10. The bait station of claim 7 wherein a front wall of said outer container has a thicker central portion with a vertical channel therethrough."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to vermin-destroying poison holders or bait stations for insects, especially crawling insects, such as ants, and also to those poison holders that contain multiple compartments for both insects and rodents.\n\nIn U.S. Pat. No. 3,017,717, Caubre describes a container for an open bottle of ant poison that is accessible to ants but that cannot be opened by a child. The container is a box with a hinged side wall. A steel pin extends through a bore in a top wall of the box and into an elongate recess in a lug attached to the inside of the hinged side wall, thereby locking the box closed. Since the pin does not protrude from the bore, it cannot be removed by hand, but must instead be drawn out by a magnet in order to unlock the box. Small holes in an end wall of the box give ants ready access to the open bottle of poisonous bait inside the box. Presumably, the poison should be sufficiently viscous to avoid leakage from the bottle through the ant access holes if up-ended by a child.\n\nIn U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,229, Demarest et al. describe a liquid bait station for roaches. The bait station has a base structure that includes a central well area with an absorbent pad and a plurality of insect access openings in side walls surrounding the well area. The bait station also has a funnel-shaped reservoir seated in the base structure and tapering to a narrow opening at its bottom for controllably releasing liquid bait onto the absorbent pad in the central well area. The larger upper end of the funnel-shaped reservoir has a cover.",
  "cpc": [
    "A01M 1/2011",
    "A01M 2200/011",
    "A01M 25/004"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "A01M 1/20",
    "A01M 25/00"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "A Pro Pest Control Inc"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Charles H. Payton",
    "T. James Gibson",
    "William T. Cress"
  ],
  "filing_date": "1998-01-23",
  "publication_date": "1999-10-19",
  "grant_date": "1999-10-19",
  "priority_date": "1998-01-23",
  "application_number": "US-1253198-A",
  "family_id": "21755409",
  "cited_by_count": 82,
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}