US663728A - Fly-catching device. - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

Patented Dec. H, |900. M. B. CHURCH.

FLY CATCHING DEVICE.

(Application led Feb. 17. 1900.)

UNITED STATES PATENT CEETUE.

MELVIN B. CHURCH, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

FLY-CATCHING DEVICE.

Y SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 663,728, dated December 11, 1900.

Application filed February 17. 1900. Serial No. 5.636. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom t rmty concern:

Be it known that I, MnLvIN B. CHURcH, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Grand Rapids, Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fly-Catching Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in fly-catching devices of that class in which a surface, such as a string or the like, is coated with sticky material to which the flies become attached.

In the use of sticky fly-catching material the great disadvantages are, first, that the paper or strings when exposed in parlor or drawing-room or similar places present an unsightly appearance, especially after they have become more or less coated with liies, and, secondly,the catching devices, being necessarily located in exposed positions,are liable to be struck against by the clothing of persons moving around in the room and cause great annoyance by reason of theadhesive power of the sticky material.

It is the object, therefore, of the present invention to provide a device which shall be free from the above objections and which shall present an ornamental appearance.

I have illustrated the invention in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation, partly broken away; and Fig. 2 is an end view of the same,

while Fig. 3 is a detail view of a modification.

Referring'by letter to the said figures, A represents a tube, which I prefer to make telescoping in order that it may occupy less space for shipping purposes. This tube I prefer to make of craps-paper, and I provide it with a plurality of holes o., which are sucient in size to permit the flies to pass readily through into the interior of the tube, while their number is sufficient to make the interior light enough so that the flies will not be repelled by the dark. The ends of the tubes are preferably partly closed,as indicated at ct. Through the center of the tube I pass a suitable surface B, coated with a sticky iiy-catching material, said surface having its ends supported at opposite ends of the tube. The catchingsurface B may be a string coated with the sticky material or ribbon, such as ordinarily used, or any suitable equivalent. The device as thus formed maybe suspended in any part of a room and no harm is caused by coming in experiment that the ies will be caught just as rapidly by my improved device as by an exposed string or ribbon, while the unsightly string of liies is thus concealed from view.

Instead of making plain openings in the walls of the tube or cylinder I may cut angular slits, as shown in Fig. 3, and turn the tongue thus formed to one side, thus forming a sort of guide to direct the flies toward the interior of the tube.

It will be seen that the shield may be used indefinitely, for as soon as one string has been used up it may be removed and another inserted. Further, if desired, several strings may be inserted at once if the size ofthe tube is sufficient to render this course desirable.

To suspend a string in the shield and to drop it in from the top, I use a weight on its lower end. This serves to guide it through and into the opening in the bottom of the shield and to hold it therein. This weight also prevents the string from coming in contact with the sides of the shield.

I provide catches or hooks projecting into or over the opening at the top of the shield from which to suspend one or more strings or ribbons, as desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isl. A fly-catching device comprising a shield having fly passages in the walls thereof, and a catching-surfaceconsisting of ribbon or string coated with sticky material and stretched between the ends of said shield whereby the said shield protects the sticky material and admits the flies thereto, substantially as described.

2. A iiy-catching device comprising a collapsible shield having fly-passagesin the walls thereof, and a catching-surface consisting of ribbon or string coated with sticky material and stretched between the ends of said shield MELVIN B. CHURCH.

Viitnesses:4

M. CLAY CHURCH, CLIFFORD C. CHURCH.

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