Apparatus and method for keeping pets in a defined boundary having exclusion areas

• US 20030179140A1
• Filed: 03/19/2003
• Published: 09/25/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rocket City Technology, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Rocket City Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Watson, Thomas J., Patterson, Wade C., Perritt, M. Bennet, Phillips, Terry
• Granted Patent: US 7,259,718 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/463
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 15/023 Anti-evasion devices
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/878 Combination of several spaced transmitters or receivers of known location for determining the position of a transponder or a reflector G01S13/874 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 13/1427 with transmitter-receiver for distance detection
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0236 Threshold setting
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0261 System arrangements wherein the object is to detect trespassing over a fixed physical boundary, e.g. the end of a garden
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/0294 Display details on parent unit

Abstract

An electronic pet fence is provided having several stationary transceivers and a mobile collar transceiver attached to the pet. Boundary and keep out locations are determined during a learning mode and stored in memory. Determination logic responds to signals exchanged between the stationary transceivers and the collar transceiver during an operation mode to determine if the pet is located within the defined boundary.

Claims

1. A programmable system for determining the location of a mobile object within a predetermined boundary, the system comprising:

a plurality of stationary transceivers and a mobile transceiver to be coupled to a moving object, the stationary transceivers and the mobile transceiver being able to communicate with one another;

the transceivers including a learning mode and an operational mode, the learning mode including moving the mobile transceiver along a boundary line while the mobile transceiver is in communication with the stationary transceivers so as to define a boundary in relation to the stationary transceivers, and the operational mode comprising determining the location of the mobile transceiver in relation to the defined boundary;

the learning mode including a boundary mode and an island mode, the boundary mode being used to define an outer boundary so that in the operational mode the mobile transceiver is prevented from moving out of the area defined by the outer boundary, and the island mode being used to define an inner boundary so that in the operational mode the mobile transceiver is prevented from moving inside the area defined by the inner boundary.

2. The programmable system for determining the location of an object within a predetermined boundary of claim 1, wherein:

the location of the mobile transceiver in relation to the statutory transceivers are measured by the amount of time a signal takes to travel between the stationary transceivers and the mobile transceiver.

3. The programmable system for determining the location of an object within a predetermined boundary of claim 2, wherein:

one of the stationary transceivers is a main transceiver having a processing and storage device, the storage device storing the boundary information acquired during the learning mode and the processing device comparing the travel time of the signal between each of the stationary transceivers and the mobile transceiver to determine the location of the mobile transceiver.

4. The programmable system for determining the location of an object within a predetermined boundary of claim 3, wherein:

a signal is produced when the mobile transceiver is moved outside the outer boundary or inside the inner boundary.

5. The programmable system for determining the location of an object within a predetermined boundary of claim 4, wherein:

the mobile transceiver adapted to be placed onto an animal for confining the animal to allowed areas.

6. A wireless fence system, comprising:

a mobile transceiver and at least three stationary transceivers, the mobile transceiver in wireless communication with the stationary transceivers;

an outer boundary and one or more island boundaries being defined with respect to the stationary transceivers and stored in a memory device, the outer boundary and one or more island boundaries defining the permitted area for the mobile transceiver;

the stationary transceivers being able to determine the location of the mobile transceiver by triangulating its location.

7. The wireless fence system of claim 6, wherein:

a processing device determines whether the mobile transceiver is located within a permitted area, and an alarm is generated when the mobile transceiver is moved outside of the permitted area.

8. The wireless fence system of claim 7, wherein:

the mobile transceiver adapted to be placed onto a pet to confine the pet to permitted areas.

9. The wireless fence system of claim 7, further comprising:

a learning mode and an operation mode, wherein in the learning mode the mobile transceiver is moved along the outer boundary line and the island boundary line and the mobile transceiver'"'"'s position at points along the boundary lines are recorded in the memory device, and in the operational mode the stationary transceivers determine the location of the mobile transceiver and compare it to the boundary line to determine if the mobile transceiver is within the permitted areas.

10. The wireless fence system of claim 7, wherein:

the at least three stationary transceivers includes a main transceiver which houses the memory device, and initiates a location determination process by sending a signal to the mobile transceiver for determining its round trip time, and another signal to the other stationary transceivers directing them to send a signal to the mobile transceiver for determining their respective round trip times.

11. A programmable system for determining the location of an object within a predetermined boundary, the system comprising:

a mobile transceiver adapted to be coupled to a pet to confine the pet to predetermined boundaries and at least three stationary transceivers, the stationary transceivers and the mobile transceiver being in wireless communication with one another, one of the stationary transceivers being a main transceiver having a processing and storage device, the storage device storing the boundary information and the processing device comparing the travel time of a signal between each of the stationary transceivers and the mobile transceiver to determine the location of the mobile transceiver;

the transceivers including a learning mode and an operational mode, the learning mode including moving the mobile transceiver along a boundary line while the mobile transceiver is in communication with the stationary transceivers so as to define a boundary in relation to the stationary transceivers, and the operational mode comprising determining the location of the mobile transceiver in relation to the defined boundary;

the learning mode including a boundary mode and an island mode, the boundary mode being used to define an outer boundary so that in the operational mode the mobile transceiver is prevented from moving out of the area defined by the outer boundary, and the island mode being used to define an inner boundary so that in the operational mode the mobile transceiver is prevented from moving inside the area defined by the inner boundary; and

the boundary is defined in the learning mode by measuring the amount of time a signal takes to travel between the stationary transceivers and the mobile transceiver.

12. The programmable system for determining the location of an object within a predetermined boundary of claim 11, wherein:

the mobile transceiver includes a central processing unit attached to a clock generator for determining the round trip time for the signals between the mobile transceiver and the stationary transceivers, a display device for displaying mobile transceiver information, a switch to alternate the mobile transceiver between its learning mode and operational mode, an audio system to provide an audible alarm to the pet, and a shock system that discomforts the pet.

13. A method of implementing a wireless fence system comprising:

placing a plurality of stationary transceivers in a proximate location to one another;

initiating a learning mode, where a mobile transceiver, which is in wireless communication with the stationary transceivers, is moved along a boundary to define a boundary with respect to the stationary transceivers and storing the boundary information in a memory device;

initiating an operational mode, where the position of the mobile transceiver is determined;

placing the mobile transceiver onto a mobile object whose location is to be tracked

generating a signal when the mobile transceiver is moved outside of the boundary area.

14. The method of implementing a wireless fence system of claim 13, wherein:

the boundary, in the learning mode, is defined by moving the mobile transceiver along a boundary line, determining the mobile transceiver'"'"'s location along a plurality of points on the boundary line, and storing the boundary line in a memory device for comparison later with the position of the mobile transceiver in the operational mode.

15. The method of implementing a wireless fence system of claim 13, wherein:

the location of the mobile transceiver, in the operational mode, is determined by initiating a signal to be sent by each of the stationary transceivers to the mobile transceiver, the mobile transceiver sending a response signal to each of the stationary transceivers, the stationary transceivers sending the response time information to a processing device, the processing device determining the position of the mobile transceiver from the received information and comparing the position of the mobile transceiver to the boundary line in the memory device.

16. The method of implementing a wireless fence system of claim 13, further comprising the step of:

generating an alarm signal if the mobile transceiver is outside of the boundary line.

17. A method of implementing a wireless fence system comprising:

placing a plurality of stationary transceivers in a proximate location to one another;

initiating a learning mode where the mobile transceiver is moved along a boundary line to define a boundary with respect to the stationary transceivers and storing the boundary information in a memory device, the boundary line being defined by moving the mobile transceiver along the boundary line while sampling a plurality of points on the boundary line;

initiating a operational mode, where the position of the mobile transceiver is determined by initiating a signal to be sent by each of the stationary transceivers to the mobile transceiver, the mobile transceiver sending a response signal to each of the stationary transceivers, the stationary transceivers sending the response time information to a processing device, the processing device determining the position of the mobile transceiver from the received information and comparing the position of the mobile transceiver to the boundary line in the memory device; and

generating a signal when the mobile transceiver is moved outside of the boundary area.