Receiver for an electronic animal confinement system
DCFirst Claim
1. A receiver adapted to be supported on an animal to confine the animal behind a boundary defined by a boundary signal, the receiver comprising:
- three generally orthogonally positioned antennas;
a source of annoyance signals;
receiver circuitry coupled to the source of annoyance signals and enabling the annoyance signals in response to receipt of a boundary signal on at least one of the antennas; and
,passive analog switch circuitry electrically coupled to the antennas and electrically sequentially coupling one of the three antennas to the receiver circuitry at a time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system (10) for confining an animal (18) in an area (16) defined by a boundary signal. The system includes a transmitter (22; 22A) to generate the boundary signal and an emitter such as a wire (20) to define area (16). The system also includes a receiver (26; 26A; 200; 200A) to be carried on the animal'"'"'s neck. The receiver includes three selectively monitored and orthogonally-positional antennas (30, 32, 34; 202, 204, 206) to avoid missing a boundary signal. The receiver further includes code-detecting, duration monitoring and/or signal-strength circuitry (270) to control giving a shock to the animal. Further, the receiver is duty-cycled to conserve battery power (56). The shock is communicated via a conductive compliant tip (532) to reduce discomfort to the animal. The transmitter includes circuitry (64) to include a code in the boundary signal, and an isolation transformer (102) to protect the transmitter from energy strikes, such as lightning, at the emitter (20).
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Citations
81 Claims
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1. A receiver adapted to be supported on an animal to confine the animal behind a boundary defined by a boundary signal, the receiver comprising:
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three generally orthogonally positioned antennas; a source of annoyance signals; receiver circuitry coupled to the source of annoyance signals and enabling the annoyance signals in response to receipt of a boundary signal on at least one of the antennas; and
,passive analog switch circuitry electrically coupled to the antennas and electrically sequentially coupling one of the three antennas to the receiver circuitry at a time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A receiver adapted to be supported on an animal to confine the animal behind a boundary defined by a boundary signal, the receiver comprising:
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at least one antenna; a shock generator; receiver circuitry coupled to the antenna, the receiver circuitry including duration-monitoring circuitry enabling the shock generator in response to receiving a boundary signal for a selected duration, the receiver circuitry further including a selector by which to adjust the duration. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A receiver adapted to be supported on an animal to confine the animal behind a boundary defined by a boundary signal, the receiver comprising:
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at least one antenna; a source of annoyance signals; an RF front end coupled to the antenna and processing circuitry coupled to the RF front end and enabling the annoyance signals in response to receipt of a boundary signal on the antenna; and duty cycle circuitry coupled between a source of power and at least the RF front end, the duty cycle circuitry selectively coupling power between the source of power and the RF front end to turn same on and off whereby to conserve power. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
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76. A receiver adapted to be supported on an animal to confine the animal behind a boundary defined by a boundary signal, the receiver comprising:
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at least one antenna; an audible sounder; a shock generator; receiver circuitry coupled to the antenna, the receiver circuitry including code-detecting circuitry enabling the audible sounder in response to a predetermined code in a boundary signal received at the antenna, the receiver circuitry further including duration-monitoring circuitry responsive to the code-detect circuitry and receipt at the antenna of the boundary signal for a selected duration, the shock generator being responsive to the duration-monitoring circuitry so as to generate a shock when the boundary signal includes the predetermined code and is received for the selected duration; and the receiver circuitry further including signal-strength circuitry responsive to the code-detect circuitry and receipt at the antenna of the boundary signal having a strength above a preselected level, the shock generator further being responsive to the signal-strength circuitry so as to generate a shock when the boundary signal is of sufficient strength and includes the predetermined code irrespective of whether the boundary signal is received for the selected duration. - View Dependent Claims (77)
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78. A receiver adapted to be supported on an animal to confine the animal behind a boundary defined by a boundary signal, the receiver comprising:
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at least one antenna; a shock generator; receiver circuitry coupled to the antenna and enabling the shock generator in response to receipt of a boundary signal; a conductive probe coupled to the shock generator whereby to communicate a shock from the shock generator to the animal; and an electrically conductive, compliant portion being defined at a distal tip of the probe. - View Dependent Claims (79, 80, 81)
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Specification