| CPC A01M 25/004 (2013.01) [A01M 31/002 (2013.01)] | 11 Claims |
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1. A bait station for pest control, the bait station comprising:
an enclosure defining an access chamber and a bait chamber, said access chamber including at least one entry port for permitting entry of a pest into said enclosure, said bait chamber configured to hold therein bait material; and
a load sensing module arranged in the bait chamber for sensing changes in weight of bait material positioned in said bait chamber and operable to output an output signal indicative of sensed changes in weight of the bait material and transmit said output signal to a remote location;
the load sensing module comprising one or more load cells arranged relative to a platform portion of the bait chamber, each load cell being coupled with one or more bait holding members for sensing changes in weight of the bait material;
wherein a bait holding member extends across an internal volume of the bait chamber in a substantially horizontal bait holding orientation, the bait holding member being elongate and extending between two ends of the bait station such that each end is supported by an in-use upper portion of a supporting clip adapted to be fastened to the bait holding member wherein a lower portion of the supporting clip is operatively coupled with the load sensing module; and wherein the load sensing module comprises a load sensing cell positioned in engagement with a load cell engaging bar extending at an inclination angle (α) of less than 90 degrees relative to a base surface of the enclosure, the load cell engaging bar and the load sensing cell being configured for sensing changes in weight of bait material positioned on the bait holding member when the bait station is positioned in a plurality of in-use orientations;
the bait chamber being defined by at least two laterally spaced apart upstanding walls extending from the base surface and wherein a respective load sensing module is positioned adjacent each of the upstanding walls;
wherein the load cell engaging bar is mounted on two spaced apart mounting locations to orient the load cell engaging bar at the inclination angle (α) of less than 90 degrees such that during use, the load cell engaging bar extends transversely relative to a plane of the upstanding walls to arrange the load cell engaging bar and the load sensing cell in a configuration for sensing changes in weight of bait material positioned on the bait holding member when the bait station is positioned in a plurality of in-use orientations.
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