Sound emitting device for behavior modification

• US 5,061,918 A
• Filed: 09/28/1990
• Issued: 10/29/1991
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Texas A&M University System
• Original Assignee: Texas A&M University System
• Inventors: Hunter, Jon F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Swann, III, Glen R.
• Application Number:
  US07/590,383
• Time in Patent Office: 396 Days
• Field of Search: 119/29, 340/573, 340/384 E, 381/190
• US Class Current: 340/573.2
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 15/021 Electronic training devices specially adapted for dogs or cats

Abstract

A device for modifying the undesirable behavior of animals is disclosed which utilizes integrated circuitry to achieve a small size and light weight. Discrimination circuitry analyzes audible indications of undesirable animal behavior. Upon detection of undesirable behavior, sound generation circuitry produces a pattern of high-intensity sounds known to cause aversive behavior in animals. The staccato pattern varied, so that animal habituation to the sounds is avoided. Circuitry is provided for increasing or decreasing the effective intensity of the sounds according to the behavior of the animal over a previous time interval.

Claims

1. A method for modifying the undesirable behavior of animals, comprising the steps of:

periodically right-shifting the contents of a shift register comprising a plurality of binary storage locations, such that for each periodic right-shift, the binary value stored in each location of said shift register is shifted one location to the right, the binary value of the left-most location being set to zero;

detecting episodes of undesirable behavior comprising repeated occurrences of said undesirable behavior in succession;

generating an activation signal each time an episode of undesirable behavior is detected;

storing a record of each activation signal in the left-most and second left-most of said plurality of binary storage locations in said periodically shifting shift register, said record comprising a one and a zero, respectively, in said left-most and second left-most locations, such that the location in said shift register of a given stored record of a given activation signal in said shift register is at any time determined by the time of detection of an episode of undesirable behavior corresponding to said given activation signal and by the rate of periodic shifting of said shift register;

circulating the contents of the shift register once, at a fast rate, a predetermined time after generation of each activation signal; and

producing a composite audio pulse during each said fast circulation of the shift register;

wherein the composite pulse comprises a sequence of decrescent audio impulses of a predetermined frequency, the temporal pattern and number of impulses in the sequence being determined by the the respective locations of said stored records of activation signals in the shift register;

and wherein said composite pulse having a frequency and intensity known to be distracting to animals, such that animals are discouraged from exhibiting said undesirable behavior when said composite pulse is produced.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the undesirable behavior is the barking of a dog.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined frequency of the impulses is chosen to be distracting to dogs.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting step comprises:

bandpass filtering a raw audio signal;

determining the frequency of the bandpass filtered audio signal;

determining the duration of the bandpass filtered audio signal; and

comparing the duration and frequency of the bandpass filtered audi signal to known duration and frequency characteristics of the audible indication of the undesirable behavior.

5. A device for modifying the behavior of animals, comprising:

a microphone for sensing audio signals and producing a raw audio signal;

a frequency detector coupled to the microphone for producing an activation signal in response to detection of raw audio signals within a predetermined range of frequencies and durations;

a shift register having a plurality of bit storage locations therein, said shift register being periodically right-shifted such that for each periodic shifting the binary value stored in each bit storage location is shifted one location to the right, the left-most location of said shift register being set to zero,

said shift register being coupled to the frequency detector, for storing a two-bit flag in the first and second left-most locations in said shift register in response to each activation signal produced by the frequency detector, the location of each two-bit flag being determined, at any time, by the time each respective activation signal is produced and the slow circulation rate of said shift register;

delay means, coupled to the frequency detector, responsive to the production of an activation signal, for shifting the contents of the shift register once, at a fast rate, in a circulating manner a predetermined time after receiving the activation signal;

decrescendo sound generation means coupled to the shift register, for producing a composite audio pulse in response to the circulation of bits in the shift register, the composite audio pulse comprising a plurality of sequentially occurring decrescent audio impulses, wherein, for each bit flag circulated in the shift register, a corresponding audio impulse is produced in the composite audio pulse;

such that the number and temporal pattern of decrescent audio impulses constituting a composite audio pulse is determined by the respective positions of two-bit flags stored in the shift register;

said composite audio pulse having a frequency and intensity known to be distracting to animals, such that said animals'"'"' behavior is modified when said audio pulse is produced.

6. A device according to claim 5, further comprising means for periodically removing a bit flag from the shift register, such that the number of stored bit flags is reduced in response to the absence of activation signals.

7. A device according to claim 5, wherein the decrescendo sound generation means comprises a piezoelectric crystal transducer having a predetermined resonant frequency, a power source, and a gating transistor coupled to the shift register, such that during circulation of bits in the shift register, bursts of power are applied to the piezoelectric crystal transducer in a pattern corresponding to the locations of stored bit flags in the shift register.

8. A device according to claim 7, wherein the resonant frequency of the piezoelectric crystal transducer is selected to be at a frequency that is distracting to the animal.

9. A device according to claim 7, wherein the power source comprises a low-current lithium battery and a capacitor connected in parallel, such that charge stored on the capacitor increases the amount of current delivered to the piezoelectric crystal transducer during each burst of power.

10. A device according to claim 5, wherein the frequency detector comprises a filtering amplifier and a counter, and wherein the filtering amplifier bandpass filters the raw audio signal, and produces a sequence of pulses having a frequency corresponding to the filtered audio signal, and wherein the counter counts the number of pulses in the sequence during a predetermined time interval.

11. A device according to claim 5, wherein the elements comprising the device are disposed upon a flexible dog collar such that when fitted onto a dog, the weight distribution of the dog collar and device automatically causes the microphone to be positioned over the ventral surface of a dog'"'"'s neck and the piezoelectric crystal transducer to be situated in close proximity to the dog'"'"'s ear.

12. A method for discouraging undesirable behavior in an animal, comprising the steps of:

detecting an episode of the undesirable behavior, each episode comprising a plurality of occurrences of said undesirable behavior in sucession;

making a temporary record of the detection of episodes of undesirable behavior;

producing, at a predetermined time after detection of an episode of undesirable behavior, a composite audio pulse at a frequency known to be distracting to the animal;

varying the number and temporal pattern of separate audio impulses which constitute the composite audio pulse in proportion to the time elapsed between detected episodes of said undesirable behavior during a previous predetermined history period;

such that the effective intensity of the composite pulse varies inversely with the amount of time elapsed between detected episodes during the history period, and such that habituation to the composite audio pulses is minimized.

13. A device for discouraging undesirable behavior in an animal, comprising:

means for detecting episodes of said undesirable behavior, each episode comprising a plurality of occurrences of said undesirable behavior in succession;

means for making a record of each episode of said undesirable behavior detected within a previous, predetermined history period;

means for generating a composite audio pulse at a frequency distracting to the animal, at a predetermined time after detection of an episode of the undesirable behavior, such that the animal is discouraged from further engaging in said undesirable behavior;

means for varying the temporal pattern of separate audio impulses comprising the composite audio pulse;

means for varying the number of separate audio impulses which constitute the composite audio pulse in proportion to the number of times that an episode of the undesirable behavior has been detected during the predetermined history period.

14. A method for modifying undesirable behavior of an animal, comprising the steps of:

detecting episodes of undesirable behavior, each episode comprising a plurality of audible indications of said undesirable behavior in succession;

generating a variable number of impulse type sounds in response to detection of each respective episode, said variable number being determined by time elapsed between prior detected episodes undesirable behavior;

delaying the first of said variable number of sounds for a predetermined time period following cessation of said each respective episode such that said animal'"'"'s auditory apparatus is most sensitive to sound when said variable number of sounds are generated;

wherein said variable number of sounds are provided at a repetition rate which is distracting to said animal.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the undesirable behavior is the barking of a dog.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the predetermined repetition rate approximates the frequency of alpha brain waves in dogs.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the step of detecting further comprises the steps of:

bandpass filtering a raw audio signal;

determining the duration of said bandpass filtered audio signal; and

comparing the duration of said bandpass filtered audio signal to known duration characteristics of said audible indication of said undesirable behavior.

18. A device for modifying the behavior of an animal, comprising:

a microphone for sensing audio signals produced by said animal;

means for generating an activation signal in response to detection of raw audio signals within a predetermined range of frequencies and durations corresponding to an episode of undesirable behavior of said animal;

means responsive to said activation signal for generating an impulse sound known to be distracting to said animal;

means for establishing a delay between generation of said activation signal and generation of said impulse sound; and

means for varying the number of impulse sounds generated in response to each activation signal such that a greater number of sounds are delivered as the elapsed time between previously detected episodes decreases, and such that an occasional episode may occur without activating the sound generating circuit.

19. A device according to claim 18, wherein said impulse sound generation means comprises:

a piezoelectric crystal transducer connected in parallel with an inductor, said parallel combination having a predetermined resonant frequency;

a power source; and

a gating transistor coupled to a monostable multivibrator;

such that each pulse from said multivibrator causes a high voltage pulse to be applied to said piezoelectric crystal transducer and inductor combination.

20. A device according to claim 19, wherein said piezoelectric crystal transducer emits sound that is distracting to said animal.

21. A device according to claim 19, wherein said power source comprises a low-current lithium battery and a capacitor connected in parallel, such that charge stored on the capacitor increases the amount of current delivered to said impulse sound generation means during said high voltage pulse.

22. A device according to claim 18, wherein said device is disposed upon a flexible dog collar such that when fitted onto a dog, the weight distribution of said dog collar and said device causes said microphone to be positioned over the ventral surface of said dog'"'"'s neck and said piezoelectric crystal transducer to be situated in close proximity to said dog'"'"'s ear.

23. A method of discouraging undesirable behavior in an animal, comprising the steps of:

detecting episodes of the undesirable behavior comprising a plurality of occurrences of said undesirable behavior in succession;

producing, at a predetermined time after detection of an episode of undesirable behavior, a composite sound pattern comprising a variable number of impulse sounds known to be distracting to said animal, said variable number of impulse sounds determining an effective energy level of said composite sound pattern;

varying the number of said impulse sounds in said composite audio pattern in inverse proportion to the elapsed time between prior detected episodes of said undesirable behavior, such that the effective energy of said composite audio pattern varies with the elapsed time between prior detected episodes of undesirable behavior; and

varying the pattern of said impulse sounds in said composite sound pattern such that habituation to the composite audio pulses is less likely.

24. A device for discouraging undesirable behavior in an animal, comprising:

means for detecting episodes of said undesirable behavior, each episode comprising a plurality of occurrences of said undesirable behavior in succession;

means for generating a composite sound pattern comprising a variable number of impulse sounds proven to be distracting to the animal;

means for delivering a first of said variable number of impulse sounds at a predetermined time after detection of an episode of the undesirable behavior;

wherein said variable number of impulse sounds in said composite sound pattern is determined by the time elapsed between prior detected episodes of the undesirable behavior.