GAME TRAP
Both jaws must lie in the same horizontal plane.
A single length of spring wire is coiled, anchored through an aperture in the base plate, and bent into a loop that engages the legs of both pivoted jaws. To set the trap, the lever is swung down against the spring tension and a detent is caught under a shoulder on the pan arm. The animal presses the pan; the pan swings down and releases the detent; the spring drives both jaws upward into closed position. The crossing of the wire legs adjacent the coil compensates for lateral twist, so that both jaws lie level when the trap is set.
“In the art of trapping, it is quite essential that the jaws lie in the same horizontal plane when the trap is in set position, and in a plane substantially parallel with that of the pan.”— Lester A. Beardsley, from the specification
And the world did not beat a path to his door.