Animal control system

• US 6,923,147 B1
• Filed: 12/22/2003
• Issued: 08/02/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/01/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Internet Area Network Inc.
• Original Assignee: Internet Area Network Inc.
• Inventors: Davis, James E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Abbott, Yvonne R.
• Application Number:
  US10/741,833
• Time in Patent Office: 589 Days
• Field of Search: 119/721, 119/908, 119/719, 119/720, 340/573.1
• US Class Current: 119/721
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 15/023 Anti-evasion devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 119/908 Electrical animal control or handling

Abstract

An animal control system generates an on-off correction stimulus using a small transformer and rectifies the high voltage output to give an unfiltered unipolar voltage applied to electrodes as a correction stimulus. A small, efficient power isolation system. A programming signal can be applied to the electrodes to affect control parameters of the control system.

Claims

1. An animal control system to receive a control signal and generate a correction stimulus comprising:

(a) a correction signal generator having a frequency and controlled on times and off times,

(b) a step-up transformer, having a self-resonant frequency, coupled to the correction signal generator, and

(c) a rectifier coupled to the step-up transformer to produce an unfiltered unipolar high voltage as the correction stimulus.

2. The system as in claim 1 wherein the frequency of the correction signal generator is matched to the self-resonant frequency of the step-up transformer.

3. The system as in claim 1 wherein the on times and off times of the correction signal generator are controlled on and off from 5 to 200 times per second.

4. The system of claim 3 wherein the on times and off times are continued for periods from 0.5 to 20 seconds and discontinued for periods from 0.5 to 20 seconds.

5. The system of claim 3 wherein the on time is decreased and the off time is increased to keep the sum of the on time and the off time constant.

6. The system of claim 3 wherein the on time is decreased and the off time is increased to keep the sum of the on time and the off time constant and the on time and off time are continued for periods from 0.5 to 20 seconds and discontinued for periods from 0.5 to 20 seconds.

7. The system as in claim 1 further comprising a power isolation system comprising:

a high forward gain, low reverse gain bipolar transistor with a fixed base current, the transistor saturated in normal operation, and substantially non-conducting during power isolation.

8. The system as in claim 1 wherein the control system is programmed by a programming signal applied to the correction stimulus electrodes of polarity opposite to the correction stimulus.