Fishing – trapping – and vermin destroying – Vermin destroying – Poison holders
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-27
2003-12-30
Ark, Darren W. (Department: 3643)
Fishing, trapping, and vermin destroying
Vermin destroying
Poison holders
C043S132100, C424S413000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06668483
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not Applicable
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH
Not Applicable
SEQUENCE LISTING, TABLE OR COMPUTER PROGRAM
Not Applicable
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is an improved device and method for the control and elimination of termites and other insects, specifically using a pesticide in the form of a rope, which can be readily applied in areas where termites or other insects might frequent.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Termites exist in various forms: Nymphs and adults. The adult forms are workers, soldiers and reproductives. Nymphs will develop into the adult form that is needed by the colony.
Workers, which do the greatest damage to wood, are the colony members that provide food for the others. They also build and perform any needed maintenance on the colony. Workers also care for the nymph termites until they become old enough to forage themselves. Both the nymphs and workers create wood damage, with the majority of damage being caused by the workers. Soldiers function only to protect the colony. Reproductives, kings and queens, function to grow, extend and sustain the colony size.
Termites and other insects eat cellulosic material, of which woods are the prime source. Termites prefer fungus-infested wood. However, they will feed on any available wood even if it has not rotted or been damaged. In order to find food sources, termites tunnel through the soil. Most species of termites require a moist soil to survive. Areas where moisture collects near wood, such as woodpiles and old dead tree stumps are prime areas for feeding. Anywhere wood is in contact with soil, or where it is frequently wet, would be target areas that termites choose for food.
Some of the types of termites found in the United States are subterranean termites, Formosan termites and dry wood termites.
Subterranean species of termites live at depths up to about 20 feet below surface and will typically be dispersed throughout the soil around a building. Colonies may contain millions of termites.
Formosan termites can infest by air, and the only effective method of treatment is by poisoning the food source.
Dry wood termites need very little water to survive and do not need to remain in the soil to obtain moisture. The best methods of controlling dry wood termites are prevention of entry to the source areas and poisoning the food source itself, such as by treating wood with termiticide.
Termites digest the cellulose that they eat through the help of organisms, particularly bacteria, within their digestive system. Thus, by killing the organisms that aid digestion, the termite itself will die. Materials that are toxic to the digestive organisms include boric acid, borates and other materials. Foraging termites locate a food source, eat and return with food to feed the other termites and to inform other workers of the food source. Thus, killing a termite quickly is not usually desirable. It is better to allow them to return to the colony to communicate the location of the food source and to feed other termites with the slow-acting toxins that they have brought back in their digestive system.
Bait shyness occurs when termites locate a food source but early scouts die from it. If the food is satisfactory and a message is returned to the colony, many more termites will be attracted.
Termites are cannibals and thus will spread the toxin by eating the dead termites in the colony. In this fashion an entire colony can be decimated, if not eliminated.
Pesticides which are used to control termites include, but are not limited to, borate salts, such as disodium octaborate tetrahydrate and disodium tetraborate decahydrate, boric acid, borides, glycol borate mixtures, sulfluramid, and fipronil, as sold by Aventis Environmental Science USA, LP, Montvale, N.J.
In treating a structure for termites, the areas treated typically include roofs, roof trim, soffits, attics, floor, flooring, foundations, window frames, door frames, between wood joints, cavities in walls, voids between studs, eaves, sills and sill plates, floor joists, girders, sub-floors, block voids, interior and exterior sheathing, wood near plumbing and electrical entries (termites can enter a home through an opening as small as {fraction (1/32)} of an inch), carpet backing, basements, crawl spaces, garages, porches, decks, fences, pilings, piers, utility poles, other exterior areas such as steps, and garden landscaping items such as logs, posts and railroad ties. In sum, anywhere there is wood needs to be treated to prevent access and anything made of wood should be treated to avoid destruction.
Many other insects that eat wood exist. Often wholesale destruction of growing trees can take place. It is necessary to apply a pesticide material to the tree in order to kill these insects.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
Various methods exist for control of termites and various pesticides exist to effect these methods. Application of liquids may be achieved by brushing, spraying, injecting, pouring, flowing through a tube, or such like. Powder may be applied by injecting, dusting or similar. Foams may be injected or sprayed into cavity areas. Liquids and powders lack containment and may contaminate the environment. Liquids, powders and foams all suffer from being difficult to remove.
The creation of a toxic barrier is desirable, but treatment of the potential food source area is also often needed. By providing a barrier, it may not be necessary to treat all potential wood areas within a home. This would apply in particular to subterranean (excluding Formosan) termites that are unable to bypass the barrier and must contact the barrier in order to get to the food source. However, prior art barriers are not continuous and have gaps in their coverage area.
Fumigation is also used to effectively eliminate termites. However, after the elimination, future control is needed.
Following are some specific prior art examples:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,798 to D'Orazio (1982) describes termite bait that utilizes brown rot fungus as an attractant and boron compounds in an amount to kill termites without creating bait shyness.
One method (U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,222 to Brody (1996)), which is thought to be the closest prior art, utilizes stakes that have been treated with a termiticide and then are driven into the ground at regularly spaced intervals. This method of application allows for gaps in coverage and in irregularly spaced intervals and requires the handling of many discrete components. Additionally, when it is desirable to remove the devices, they must be located and often will have degraded in composition, thus making removal difficult.
Another method (U.S. Pat. No. 4,625,474 to Peacock, deceased, et al. (1986)) utilizes installation of a tube in the ground area to be treated. Pesticide is then pumped into this tube and exits through holes in the tube into the ground. This method does not contain the pesticide, but rather causes it to be released into the environment.
A third method (U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,496 to Woodruff (1999); U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,266 to Woodruff (1999); U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,241 to Woodruff (2000)), also utilizing a tube, controls the bait and pesticide by inserting it into the original tube through a second tube. This also suffers from a lack of containment, allowing pesticide to be released into the environment.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,150,541 to Foster et al. (1992) describes a mesh that encloses an insecticide. This mesh is used as a protective barrier to prevent other larger non-target creatures from coming in contact with the toxin. This mesh only serves as a fixed barrier and does not aid in the removal of the bait.
These prior devices and methods either are rather involved and thus costly in manufacture and/or operation, or are unsuitable for ease of removal and replacement. In field application, choices are limited, most notably for preventative applications.
Objects and Advantages
The present invention offers significant objects and advantages over the above prior art devices and methods.
Since the instant invention may be manufact
Summer-Trivisani Carla Lee
Trivisani Scott
Ark Darren W.
Myers Joel D.
Myers & Kaplan LLC
Williamson III Thomas R.
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