the preferred embodiment of the present invention is described herein with references to elements illustrated in fig1 through 9 . fig1 and 11 show an alternative embodiment for the corner engagements . as shown in fig1 and 2 the trap consists of six sides ; in the preferred embodiment four of these sides are substantially rectangular and two are substantially square . the side that has the mouth trap 10 is referred to as the top 41 and the side opposite to the top 41 is referred to as the bottom 42 . the other two rectangular sides 43 are symmetrical . the substantially square sides 40 and 60 in fig1 and 2 respectively are made out of plastic completely . side 40 contains the frame for trap door 50 shown in fig3 . in fig1 the crustacean trap 1 of the present invention shows the mouth trap 10 on the top rectangular side composed of wooden members 30 . the mouth trap 10 is a molded plastic piece . the shape of the mouth trap 10 is not critical but it should have an outer frame 11 with converging sides substantially perpendicular to said frame 11 narrowing towards the inner frame 12 in order to make it resemble natural orifices which usually have a smaller clearance inside . also , it will make it more difficult for the crustacean to escape . a net or any other similar structure may also be utilized as a mouth trap with similar results . the structure of the trap 1 is held together with four corner columns 20 which are hollow and made out of plastic . the two corner columns 20 on the bottom may be filled up with a heavy material , sand or the like , if the user so desires in order to give stability to the trap 1 when it settles on the bottom of the body of water . fig3 shows an exploded view of the different elements in order to facilitate the understanding of the assembly and construction of the invention . side panel 60 is pierced through each one of its corners with a corner column 20 . side panel 60 is placed on the floor with all four corner columns 20 held upwardly and engaged by virtue of latch 22 and the corner columns head 21 . the latch 22 is a tension loaded locking device integrally formed on corner column 20 . the latch 22 can be pressed in with the user &# 39 ; s fingers when the corner columns 20 are being slid through the side panel &# 39 ; s corner holes . the latch 22 springs back out when the corner column 20 slides all the way in and the head 21 comes into contact with side panel 60 . the positioning of the latch 22 is aligned with the latch orifice 23 . once the four corner columns 20 are fastened to the side panel 60 , the user proceeds with the insertion of wooden members 30 in its respective holes 61 of side panel 60 . the side that holds the mouth trap 10 will be the top 41 . on top 41 the wooden members 30 that will hold the mouth trap 10 will have to be slid through the mouth &# 39 ; s trap guides 13 before insertion in the side panel &# 39 ; s holes 61 . after insertion of these two wooden members 30 that hold the mouth trap 10 in place along a vertical axis , the next step consists of inserting wooden members 31 which are smaller than wooden members 30 ( wooden members 31 are approximately one half the size of wooden members 30 ). it is recommendable to work on the top 41 side after all other sides have been completed . next , wooden members 32 ( wooden members 32 are about one half the size of wooden members 31 and about one fourth the size of wooden members 30 ) are inserted in the trap mouth &# 39 ; s holes 14 . finally , side panel with door frame 40 is aligned with the corner columns 20 and wooden members 30 and 32 . the corner columns 20 pierce through the corner holes of the side panel with door frame 40 . also , the latches 22 will insure a more rigid structure by springing out through latch holes 23 , as shown in fig3 , and 9 . instead of using pin 24 , an anchoring clip 70 may be used with the same result as shown on fig1 and fig1 . as shown in fig7 plastic side panel 40 contains the guide 44 on which the plastic trap door 50 will slide in and compress the spring loaded lock 51 which will keep the trap door 50 in place . side panel 40 may have an attachment ( not shown ) from which a rope ( or other connecting means ) is tied and the other end of this rope being tied to a buoy in order to be able to locate the trap . however , the trap may also be used with - out any attachments by simply wrapping the rope around the side panel 40 having the door 50 . when the trap 1 is hauled the crustaceans inside will settle on side panel 60 , the possibility of escaping is reduced . it is to be understood that the forms of the invention herewith shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same , and that various changes in the shape , size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to , without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention .
a trap for crustaceans capable of being knocked down to basic parts occupying a small volume and easy to assemble in little time . also , sturdy enough to withstand handling , ship movement and underwater currents but at the same time being biodegradable in order to prevent it from becoming a perpetual crustaceans killing trap in the event that the buoy breaks off .