Sensing devices, systems, and methods particularly for pest control

• US 20030001745A1
• Filed: 06/18/2002
• Published: 01/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daniel T. Barber, Don Black, James Edward King, Mick A. Trompen, Robertson A. Sterett
• Original Assignee: Daniel T. Barber, Don Black, James Edward King, Mick A. Trompen, Robertson A. Sterett
• Inventors: Trompen, Mick A., King, James Edward, Black, Don, Barber, Daniel T., Robertson, A. Sterett
• Granted Patent: US 6,914,529 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/573.2
• CPC Class Codes: A01M 1/026 combined with devices for monitoring insect presence, e.g. termites bait stations A01M1/2005; detecting other animals in a given area A01M31/002
• CPC Class Codes: A01M 1/2011 for crawling insects

Abstract

A pest control system (20) includes pest control devices (110) installed about an area or building (22). These devices (110) each include a bait member and a communication circuit. The communication circuit may be in the form of a passive RF tag that transmits information indicative of bait status and an identifier unique to each pest control device (110). A hand held interrogator (30) is provided to locate and communicate with the pest control devices (110) via the communication circuit. A data collection unit (40) to accumulate data gathered from the pest control devices (110) may alternatively or additionally be utilized. The device (110) includes a sensor that has an electrically conductive pathway comprised of a nonmetallic material. Other pest control devices to detect varying nonzero levels of pest activity are also disclosed. Still another device includes one or more environmental sensors to further evaluate and predict pest behavior.

Claims

1. A pest control device, comprising:

a member operable to be consumed or displaced by one or more pests; and

a circuit including an element carried with the member, the circuit applying an electric potential to the element, the element being operably changed by a degree of consumption or displacement of the member, the element being comprised of an electrically conductive, nonmetallic material.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the nonmetallic material includes carbon.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the carbon defines an electric current carrying pathway through the element.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the circuit is operable to provide a first output representative of a first nonzero amount of the consumption or displacement of the member and a second output representative of a second nonzero amount of the consumption or displacement of the member by monitoring an electrical characteristic of the element.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the circuit is operable to detect an open condition of an electrical current pathway through the element.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the circuit includes data transmission circuitry.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein the element is made of carbon-containing ink arranged as a trace on the member.

8. The device of claim 7, further comprising:

one or more bait pieces;

an enclosure containing one or more other elements of the circuit electrically coupled to the element by a connector, the connector being carried with the enclosure and being comprised of an electrically conductive, carbon-containing elastomeric material; and

a housing configured to receive the bait pieces and the enclosure, the second housing being arranged with openings sized to receive termites as the one or more pests.

48. A system, comprising a plurality of pest control devices according to any of claims 1-14 or 18-47.

51. A system, comprising a first pest control device according to one of claims 1-14 or 18-47 and a second pest control device according to another of claims 1-14 or 18-47.

9. A pest control device, comprising:

a member operable to be consumed or displaced by one or more pests; and

a circuit including an element carried with the member, the circuit defining an electrical pathway through the element, the element being operably changed by a degree of consumption or displacement of the member, the element being composed of a material having a volume resistivity of at least 0.001 ohm-cm.

10. The device of claim 9, wherein the element is provided in the form of a carbon-containing ink fixed to the member.

11. The device of claim 9, wherein the circuit is operable to provide a first output representative of a first nonzero amount of the consumption or displacement of the member and a second output representative of a second nonzero amount of the consumption or displacement of the member by monitoring an electrical characteristic of the element.

12. The device of claim 9, wherein the circuit is operable to detect an open circuit condition of the electrical pathway through the element.

13. The device of claim 9, wherein the volume resistivity is at least 0.1 ohm-cm.

14. The device of claim 9, wherein the volume resistivity is at least 10 ohm-cm.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the circuit of each of the pest control devices includes communication circuitry.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising a data collection device operable to receive data from the data communication circuitry of each of the pest control devices.

19. The device of claim 18, wherein the sensor includes a network of spaced apart, electrically resistive pathways, the network includes the first portion and the second portion, and the property corresponds to electrical resistance of the network.

20. The device of claim 18, wherein the sensor includes an electrode, the electrode includes the first portion and the second portion, and the property corresponds to electrical capacitance of the electrode.

21. The device of claim 18, wherein the sensor includes one or more sensing elements carried on a substrate.

22. The device of claim 21, wherein the one or more sensing elements are formed from a carbon-containing conductive ink fixed to the substrate.

23. The device of claim 18, wherein the circuit includes one or more bait members associated with the sensor, the bait members configured to be consumed by the one or more pests.

24. The device of claim 18, wherein the circuit is operable to provide a number of output signals each corresponding to one of the different levels of pest activity.

25. The device of claim 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, or 24, wherein the separation or displacement is detected by the circuit with other than a pest sensing or monitoring member including a magnetic material to provide a magnetic field that changes in response to removal of the magnetic material from the member by the one or more pests.

26. The device of claim 18, wherein the sensor includes magnetic material to generate a magnetic field that varies with the separation or displacement and the circuit includes a magnetic field monitoring subcircuit.

28. The device of claim 27, wherein the one or more sensing elements include an electrode and the circuit is operable to detect a change corresponding to an electrical capacitance associated with the electrode.

29. The device of claim 27, wherein the one or more sensing elements number two or more and the sensing elements each correspond to one of a number of spaced apart electrically conductive pathways, the electrically conductive pathways each having a predetermined electrical resistance.

30. The device of claim 27, wherein the member includes a substrate, the one or more sensing elements being formed from a carbon-containing material fixed to the substrate.

31. The device of claim 27, 28, 29, or 30, wherein the circuit applies an electric potential to the one or more sensing elements.

32. The device of claim 27, wherein the one or more sensing elements include a magnetic material operable to generate a magnetic field that changes in accordance with the consumption or displacement.

15. A system comprising:

a number of pest control devices, the pest control devices each including a circuit with at least one element comprised of a material defining an electrical current carrying pathway through the element, the material including carbon.

18. A pest control device, comprising:

a sensor including a first portion subject to separation or displacement relative to a second portion by one or more pests; and

a circuit coupled to the sensor to monitor a property of the sensor being changed by the separation or displacement of the first portion relative to the second portion, the circuit being operable to detect a number of different nonzero levels of pest activity.

27. A pest control device, comprising:

a bait member operable to be consumed or displaced one or more pests; and

a circuit including one or more sensing elements associated with the bait member, a characteristic of the one or more sensing elements being altered with pest consumption or displacement of the bait member, the circuit being operable to monitor the characteristic to detect a number of different nonzero degrees of the pest consumption or displacement.

33. A pest control device, comprising:

a circuit including a number of electrically coupled sensing elements spaced apart from one another and arranged to be consumed or displaced by one or more pests, the sensing elements each corresponding to a different one of a number of electrically resistive pathways, the circuit being responsive to alteration of one or more of the sensing elements to provide information representative of a degree of pest consumption or displacement.

34. The device of claim 33, wherein a first one of the sensing elements has a first predetermined resistance and a second one of the sensing elements has a second predetermined resistance different than the first predetermined resistance.

35. The device of claim 34, wherein the first one of the sensing elements and the second one of the sensing elements are electrically connected in parallel.

36. The device of claim 33, wherein the sensing elements are arranged to correspond to a resistor ladder network.

37. The device of claim 33, wherein the member includes a substrate and the sensing elements are carried with the substrate.

38. The device of claim 37, wherein the sensing elements are made from a carbon-containing ink fixed to the substrate.

39. The device of claim 37, wherein the substrate is arranged in a number of layers.

40. The device of claim 39, wherein at least a portion of the substrate is arranged in at least one of a rolled, folded, or bent configuration to provide the layers.

41. The device of claim 37, wherein one or more of the sensing elements extend through the substrate that are electrically coupled by one or more conductive pathways extending along an outer surface of the substrate.

42. The device of claim 33, wherein the circuit includes an A/D converter, a processor, and data communication circuitry to communicate the information.

43. A pest control device, comprising:

a circuit including an electrode operable to be consumed or displaced by one or more pests, capacitance of the electrode changing in response to pest consumption or displacement, the circuit being operable to monitor a property corresponding to the capacitance of the electrode to provide an output representative of a degree of the pest consumption or displacement.

44. The device of claim 43, wherein the electrode is made from a conductive ink fixed to a member.

45. The device of claim 44, wherein the conductive ink includes carbon.

46. The device of claim 44, wherein the member is in the form of a dielectric substrate.

47. The device of claim 43, wherein the circuit includes a reference capacitor, an A/D converter, a processor, and a wireless communication transmitter to communicate the information.

49. The system of claim 48, further comprising a data collection device to communicate with the circuit.

50. The system of claim 49, further comprising a computer operable to evaluate the information to identify a pattern of pest activity.

52. A method, comprising:

operating a pest control device including a circuit with a sensor arranged to be at least partially consumed or displaced by one or more pests;

establishing a first nonzero degree of sensor consumption or displacement with the circuit in response to separation of a first portion of the sensor; and

determining a second nonzero degree of sensor consumption or displacement with the circuit in response to separation of a second portion of the sensor after the separation of the first portion.

53. The method of claim 52, further comprising detecting separation of a third portion of the sensor with the circuit after the separation of the second portion to provide a third output representative of a third nonzero degree of consumption or displacement of the sensor by the one or more pests.

54. The method of claim 52, wherein said determining is performed by detecting a change in capacitance of the sensor.

55. The method of claim 52, wherein said determining is performed by detecting a change in electrical resistance of the sensor.

56. The method of claim 52, further comprising transmitting information corresponding to the sensor consumption or displacement with the circuit to a data collection unit.

57. The method of claim 56, further comprising determining a pattern of pest activity with the information.

58. The method of claim 52, further comprising applying a pesticide in response to said determining.

59. The method of claim 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, or 58, wherein said establishing and said determining are performed by other than a pest monitoring or sensing member that includes a magnetic material to generate a magnetic field corresponding to the consumption or displacement of the sensor by the one or more pests.

60. The method of claim 52, wherein said determining is performed by detecting a change in a magnetic field generated by the sensor.