Bolus antenna system

• US 10,390,515 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2018
• Issued: 08/27/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HerdStrong LLC
• Original Assignee: HerdStrong LLC
• Inventors: Bancroft, Randy Cecil, Dalgleish, Scott David
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Binh B
• Application Number:
  US15/965,641
• Publication Number:
  US 20180310522A1
• Time in Patent Office: 487 Days
• Field of Search: 600301, 600302, 3405733, 3408701, 343718
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 11/007 Boluses
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2503/40 Animals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0214 of power generation or supply
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2562/0219 Inertial sensors, e.g. accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt switches
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0008 Temperature signals
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/01 Measuring temperature of body parts ; Diagnostic temperature sensing, e.g. for malignant or inflamed tissue clinical contact thermometers G01K13/20
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/073 Intestinal transmitters
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1118 Determining activity level
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1123 Discriminating type of movement, e.g. walking or running A61B5/1116, A61B5/112 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/2208 associated with components used in interrogation type services, i.e. in systems for information exchange between an interrogator/reader and a tag/transponder, e.g. in Radio Frequency Identification [RFID] systems methods or arrangements for sensing record carriers, e.g. for reading patterns G06K7/00; record carrier for use with machines and with at least a part designed to carry digital markings G06K19/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/273 Adaptation for carrying or wearing by persons or animals
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/42 Housings not intimately mechanically associated with radiating elements, e.g. radome
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/0075 Stripline fed arrays H01Q21/065 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/06 Arrays of individually energised antenna units similarly polarised and spaced apart
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/29 Combinations of different interacting antenna units for giving a desired directional characteristic H01Q25/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/26 with folded element or elements, the folded parts being spaced apart a small fraction of operating wavelength resonant loop antennas H01Q7/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/0458 Arrangements for matching and coupling between power amplifier and antenna or between amplifying stages matching circuits in general H03H

Abstract

A bolus that communicates with an external transceiver by way of radio waves produced by an electrically small H-antenna is described. The electrically small H-antenna is connected to a conductive cylindrical antenna that houses a battery and chipset that includes a transceiver, identification information and at least one sensor. The H-antenna and the conductive cylindrical antenna are arranged so that electrical currents that produce the radio waves are essentially always aligned to work together. The bolus is essentially a hermetically sealed capsule containing the antennas that is meant to be ingested by a cow or other ruminant animal. The bolus is configured to transmit radio waves in essentially an omnidirectional pattern more efficiently when the boluses inside of a cow stomach than when the boluses outside of the cow.

Claims

1. A bolus comprising:

an electrically small H-antenna extending from a front side of a ground plate, said H-antenna electrically connected to a power supply and a signal transmitter by way of a microstrip transmission line, the microstrip transmission line opposing a ground plane that is at least three times greater width than said microstrip transmission line and separated from said microstrip transmission line by a dielectric spacer, said H-antenna comprising two parallel dipoles and a two parallel plate transmission lines;

a conductive cylindrical antenna extending from a backside of said ground plate and electrically connected to said ground plate, said metal cylindrical essentially housing said power supply;

said bolus configured to radiate essentially omnidirectional electromagnetic waves generated by electrical currents aligned and in a common direction in both said parallel dipoles and said conductive cylindrical antenna when powered by said signal transmitter.

2. The bolus of claim 1 further comprising a capsule that encapsulates and hermetically seals said electrically small H-antenna, said signal transmitter, said ground plate, the dielectric spacer, said microstrip, and said conductive cylindrical antenna.

3. The bolus of claim 1 wherein said bolus is weighted to stay retained in a stomach of a ruminant animal throughout the life of said ruminant animal.

4. The bolus of claim 1 wherein said to parallel plate transmission lines possess opposite electrical currents that cancel each other out when said signal transmitter provides power to said antenna.

5. The bolus of claim 1 wherein said omnidirectional electromagnetic waves are significantly attenuated when said bolus is in operation outside of a ruminant animal compared to being in said ruminant animal.

6. The bolus of claim 5 wherein said signal transmitter is comprised by a printed circuit board that possesses static circuits that tune the H-antenna to transmit said electromagnetic waves significantly further when said bolus is inside of said ruminant animal as compared to outside of said ruminant animal.

7. The bolus of claim 1 further comprising a printed circuit board that is shielded from said electrical currents by said conductive cylindrical antenna.

8. The bolus of claim 1 wherein said dipoles of the H-antenna are spaced apart approximately the same distance as the diameter of said metal cylindrical antenna.

9. The bolus of claim 1 configured for two-way communication using radio frequency with an external transceiver.

10. The bolus of claim 1 further comprising a unique identification and at least one sensor adapted to measure a physical parameter associated with a host ruminant animal, said unique identification and at least one value associated with said physical parameter adapted to be transmitted by said omnidirectional magnetic waves.

11. A bolus comprising:

an electrically small H-antenna extending from a conductive cylindrical antenna;

a ground plate interposed between said H-antenna and said conductive cylindrical antenna, said H-antenna connected to said conductive cylindrical antenna;

a battery disposed inside of said conductive cylindrical antenna; and

a signal transmitter configured to generate electrical currents that essentially align in one direction in both said H-antenna and said conductive cylindrical antenna, said H-antenna and said conductive cylindrical antenna are adapted to generate radiofrequency waves from said electrical currents.

12. The bolus of claim 11 wherein said bolus is weighted to remain inside of a ruminant animal'"'"'s stomach until the ruminant animal is no longer living.

13. The bolus of claim 11 further comprising a unique identification and at least one sensor adapted to measure a physical parameter associated with a host ruminant animal, said unique identification and at least one value associated with said physical parameter adapted to be transmitted by said radiofrequency waves.

14. The bolus of claim 13 wherein said radiofrequency waves are essentially omnidirectional.

15. The bolus of claim 11 wherein said bolus possesses circuitry that is configured to tune at least said H-antenna to transmit said radiofrequency waves more powerfully when said bolus is disposed in a ruminant animal than when said bolus is located outside of said ruminant animal.

16. A method comprising:

providing a bolus possessing an electrically small H-antenna and a conductive cylindrical antenna, the H-antenna possessing two parallel dipoles that are in line with the outer surface of the conductive cylindrical antenna;

energizing the H-antenna and the conductive cylindrical antenna with a battery contained in said conductive cylindrical antenna via a signal transmitter to generate electrical currents that are essentially pointed in the same direction along said dipoles and the outer surface of said conductive cylindrical antenna;

transmitting at least identification of said bolus via a radio signal wave generated by said electrical currents in said dipoles and said outer surface of said conductive cylindrical antenna.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising alternating the electrical currents at a frequency over 800 MHz.

18. The method of claim 16 further comprising generating essentially omnidirectional radio waves via the H-antenna and the conductive cylindrical antenna.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein radio wave transmitted by said bolus are significantly weaker when said bolus is transmitting signals outside of a ruminant animal than when said bolus is transmitting signals inside of said ruminant animal.

20. The method of claim 16 further comprising obtaining at least one sensor value from a sensor within said bolus and transmitting said at least one sensor value via said radio signal wave to an external receiving device.