SYNCHRONIZED PRIMARY WINDING CURRENT SHUNTING TECHNIQUE FOR CONTROLLING ELECTRO-STIMULUS LEVEL
First Claim
1. An electronic apparatus for training an animal, comprising:
- (a) a housing supported against the animal'"'"'s skin;
(b) first and second stimulus electrodes extending from a surface of the housing;
(c) a controller in the housing including output terminals producing aversive stimulus control signals;
(e) a first switch coupled to a winding to produce a burst of first current pulses in a winding in response to a first signal produced by the controller;
(f) a second switch coupled to the first switch operative to synchronously shunt predetermined trailing portions of the first current pulses away from the winding in response to a second signal produced by the controller to reduce the amount of energy delivered to the winding by the switching transistor without substantially changing a peak value of a flyback voltage across the winding, the second signal including a burst of pulses synchronous with the burst of first current pulses.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic apparatus (1) for training an animal is supported against the animal'"'"'s skin, and includes stimulus electrodes (5) for electrically contacting the skin. A controller including output terminals producing aversive stimulus control signals, a first switch (Q4) coupled to a winding to produce therein a burst of first current pulses in response to a first signal produced by the controller (33) and a second switch (Q2) coupled to the first switch (Q4) operative to synchronously shunt predetermined trailing portions of the first current pulses away from the winding in response to a second signal produced by the controller to reduce the amount of energy delivered to the winding by the switching transistor (Q4) without substantially changing a peak value of a flyback voltage across the winding. The controller sets various values of time intervals during which portions of the first current pulses are shunted away from the winding in order to set various corresponding intensities of aversive stimulus.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An electronic apparatus for training an animal, comprising:
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(a) a housing supported against the animal'"'"'s skin;
(b) first and second stimulus electrodes extending from a surface of the housing;
(c) a controller in the housing including output terminals producing aversive stimulus control signals;
(e) a first switch coupled to a winding to produce a burst of first current pulses in a winding in response to a first signal produced by the controller;
(f) a second switch coupled to the first switch operative to synchronously shunt predetermined trailing portions of the first current pulses away from the winding in response to a second signal produced by the controller to reduce the amount of energy delivered to the winding by the switching transistor without substantially changing a peak value of a flyback voltage across the winding, the second signal including a burst of pulses synchronous with the burst of first current pulses. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 20)
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6. A collar-mounted electronic apparatus for control of barking by a dog, comprising:
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(a) a housing supported by a collar for attachment to the dog'"'"'s neck;
(b) first and second stimulus electrodes connected to a surface of the housing;
(c) a vibration sensor supported by the housing for detecting vibrations caused by vocalization by the dog;
(d) a controller in the housing having an input coupled to an output of the vibration sensor, the controller including output terminals producing aversive stimulus control signals in response to barking by the dog;
(e) a switching transistor coupled to a winding of an output transformer to produce a burst of first current pulses in the winding in response to a first signal produced by the controller;
(f) a shunt transistor coupled to the switching transistor operative to synchronously shunt predetermined trailing portions of the first current pulses away from the winding in response to a second signal produced by the controller to reduce the amount of energy delivered to the winding by the switching transistor without substantially changing a peak value of a flyback voltage across the winding, the second signal including a burst of pulses synchronous with the burst of first current pulses. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of operating an electronic apparatus to train an animal, the electronic apparatus including a housing supported against the animal'"'"'s skin, first and second stimulus electrodes extending from a surface of the housing, and a controller in the housing having an input coupled to an output of the sensor, the method comprising:
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(a) operating the controller to produce a first signal to control a first switch coupled to a winding to produce a burst of first current pulses in the winding; and
(b) operating the controller to produce a second signal to control a second switch coupled to the first switch to synchronously shunt predetermined trailing portions of the first current pulses away from the winding to reduce the amount of energy delivered to the winding by the switching transistor without substantially changing a peak value of a flyback voltage across the winding, the second signal including a burst of pulses synchronous with the burst of first current pulses. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 21)
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22. An electronic apparatus for training an animal, the electronic apparatus including a housing supported against the animal'"'"'s skin, first and second stimulus electrodes extending from a surface of the housing, and a controller in the housing having an input coupled to an output of the sensor, the method comprising:
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(a) means for operating the controller to produce a first signal to control a first switch coupled to a winding to produce a burst of first current pulses in the winding; and
(b) means for operating the controller to produce a second signal to control a second switch coupled to the first switch to synchronously shunt predetermined trailing portions of the first current pulses away from the winding to reduce the amount of energy delivered to the winding by the switching transistor without substantially changing a peak value of a flyback voltage across the winding, the second signal including a burst of pulses synchronous with the burst of first current pulses. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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Specification