HIGH RELIABILITY PEST DETECTION

• US 20120126951A1
• Filed: 02/02/2012
• Published: 05/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Corteva Agriscience LLC (Corteva, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amy J. Griffin, Andrew H. Wurtz, Donald E. Williams III, Eva A. Chin, Joseph J. Demark, Marc L. Fisher, Mike P. Tolley, Thomas H. Atkinson
• Inventors: DeMark, Joseph J., Williams, Donald E. III, Atkinson, Thomas H., Wurtz, Andrew H., Griffin, Amy J., Chin, Eva A., Fisher, Marc L., Tolley, Mike P.
• Granted Patent: US 8,797,168 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/10.1
• CPC Class Codes: A01M 1/026 combined with devices for monitoring insect presence, e.g. termites bait stations A01M1/2005; detecting other animals in a given area A01M31/002
• CPC Class Codes: A01M 1/2011 for crawling insects
• CPC Class Codes: A01M 25/006 Poison applicators, i.e. mobile devices for disposing poison wherever required, e.g. into holes, burrows, walls or ground
• CPC Class Codes: A01M 31/002 Detecting animals in a given area

Abstract

A pest detection device includes a housing with a sensor and one or more bait members. The sensor includes one or more of a chisel-shaped electrically conductive trace carried on a substrate, a low resistance electrically conductive ink defining an electrical pathway on a substrate with a pointed profile, and/or a substrate including a directional grain structure oriented in a predefined manner relative to an electrically conductive pathway.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

installing a plurality of pest detection devices at least partially in the ground, the pest detection devices each including;

one or more bait members structured to be consumed or displaced by one or more pests and a detection device positioned proximate to the one or more bait members, the detection device including a substrate with a first end portion opposite a second end portion and an electrically conductive ink trace carried on the substrate, the trace defining two contacts spaced apart from one another on the first end portion, the trace extending from a first one of the contacts along the substrate to the second end portion and reversing direction on the second end portion to return to a second one of the contacts on the first end portion, the electrically conductive ink trace defining an chisel-shaped tip along the second end portion;

performing an interrogation of each of the pest detection devices with a signal to determine an electrical conductivity state of the trace; and

determining if pests are present based on the interrogation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive ink trace includes at least two corners to reverse the direction on the second end portion, a first one of the corners corresponding to an acute angle and a second one of the corners corresponding to an obtuse angle.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate includes a polymer-coated paper material with a predefined grain oriented generally along a longitudinal axis of the substrate.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the grain is generally parallel to the longitude of the substrate.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the trace is comprised of C-100 ink.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the trace has an electrical resistance less than 10,000 ohms.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductive ink trace includes two segments each extending along a longitudinal axis of the substrate from a respective one of the contacts to the chisel-shaped tip, the segments each being approximately parallel to a directional grain configuration defined by the substrate.

8. The method of claim 1, which includes generating a visible indication if the one or more species of pest are present.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising for each of the devices, temporarily connecting an interrogator with two terminals in electrical communication the contacts to perform the interrogation.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the interrogation includes activating a switch to apply electricity to the trace.

11-25. -25. (canceled)

26. A pest detection device comprising:

a first bait member structured for consumption or displacement by one or more pests; and

a sensor positioned in close proximity to the first bait member, the sensor including a substrate and an electrically conductive ink trace extending from two contacts at a first end portion of the substrate to a second end portion of the substrate, the ink trace following a pathway defining a turn that reverses direction on the second end portion to connect the contacts together, the turn defining a corner subtending an acute angle between respective adjoined line segments of the ink trace.

27. The device of claim 26, further comprising an interrogator operable to provide an interrogation signal to determine if the pests are present based on an electrical state of the sensor.

28. The device of claim 26, further comprising a second bait member, wherein the sensor is positioned between and in contact with said first and second bait members.

29. The device of claim 26, wherein the substrate comprises a paper material with a directional grain structure responsive to moisture to anisotropically change substrate dimension.

30. The device of claim 26, wherein the substrate comprises a polymeric material at least partially coating the substrate.

31. The device of claim 30, wherein the substrate further comprises a paper material, the polymeric material includes polyethylene, and the paper material is responsive to moisture to increase dimension along a longitudinal axis less than along a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

32. The device of claim 26, wherein the substrate comprises a paper material with a directional grain structure which is oriented approximately parallel to a longitudinal axis of the substrate and one or more elongate segments of the electrically conductive ink trace.