Wireless confinement and training system for an animal
First Claim
1. A method of providing wireless confinement of an animal, comprising the steps of:
- selecting a location of a containment transmitter assembly;
attaching a receiver assembly to said animal, said receiver assembly being adapted to selectively provide a corrective stimulation to said animal;
selecting a first distance between said containment transmitter assembly and said receiver assembly to define a first zone within which no corrective stimulation is provided to said animal by said receiver assembly;
selecting a second distance between said containment transmitter assembly and said receiver assembly to define a second zone beyond said first zone within which said corrective stimulation is provided to said animal by said receiver assembly;
selecting a third distance between said containment transmitter assembly and said receiver assembly to define a third zone beyond said second zone within which said animal will receive no further corrective stimulation from said receiver assembly; and
providing a training transmitter, separate from said containment transmitter assembly, for controlling said receiver assembly to selectively apply corrective stimulation to said animal regardless of a location of said receiver assembly with respect to said first zone, said second zone and said third zone.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method of providing wireless animal confinement includes the steps of selecting a location of a transmitter assembly; attaching a receiver assembly to the animal, the receiver assembly being adapted to selectively provide a corrective stimulation to the animal; selecting a first distance between the transmitter assembly and the receiver assembly to define a first zone within which no corrective stimulation is provided to the animal by the receiver assembly; selecting a second distance between the transmitter assembly and the receiver assembly to define a second zone beyond the first zone within which the corrective stimulation is provided to the animal by the receiver assembly; and selecting a third distance between the transmitter assembly and the receiver assembly to define a third zone beyond the second zone within which the animal will receive no further corrective stimulation from the receiver assembly.
105 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method of providing wireless confinement of an animal, comprising the steps of:
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selecting a location of a containment transmitter assembly;
attaching a receiver assembly to said animal, said receiver assembly being adapted to selectively provide a corrective stimulation to said animal;
selecting a first distance between said containment transmitter assembly and said receiver assembly to define a first zone within which no corrective stimulation is provided to said animal by said receiver assembly;
selecting a second distance between said containment transmitter assembly and said receiver assembly to define a second zone beyond said first zone within which said corrective stimulation is provided to said animal by said receiver assembly;
selecting a third distance between said containment transmitter assembly and said receiver assembly to define a third zone beyond said second zone within which said animal will receive no further corrective stimulation from said receiver assembly; and
providing a training transmitter, separate from said containment transmitter assembly, for controlling said receiver assembly to selectively apply corrective stimulation to said animal regardless of a location of said receiver assembly with respect to said first zone, said second zone and said third zone. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for providing wireless confinement of an animal, comprising:
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a containment transmitter assembly which transmits a ranging signal having a signal strength which diminishes over a propagation distance;
a receiver unit for receiving said ranging signal, said receiver unit having stored therein a first signal strength threshold corresponding a first distance between said containment transmitter assembly and said receiver unit, a second signal strength threshold corresponding to a second distance between said containment transmitter assembly and said receiver unit;
a correction unit controllably connected to said receiver unit, said correction unit providing no corrective stimulation to said animal based on if said receiver unit determines said signal strength of said ranging signal is more than said first signal strength threshold, said correction unit providing corrective stimulation to said animal if said receiver unit determines said signal strength of said ranging signal is between said first signal strength threshold and said second signal strength threshold, and said correction unit providing no further corrective stimulation to said animal if said receiver unit determines said signal strength of said ranging signal is less than said third signal strength threshold; and
a training transmitter, separate from said containment transmitter assembly, for selectively supplying a signal to said receiver to command said correction unit to apply corrective stimulation to said animal regardless of a location of said animal. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for providing wireless confinement of an animal, comprising the steps of:
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providing a containment transmitter assembly for transmitting a ranging signal having a signal strength which diminishes over a propagation distance, and for transmitting a synchronization signal to be used to synchronize said ranging signal;
providing a receiver attached to said animal for receiving said ranging signal and said synchronization signal;
determining the presence or absence of said ranging signal at a predefined time based on a reception time of said synchronization signal;
providing no corrective stimulation to said animal if said ranging signal is determined to be present;
providing corrective stimulation to said animal if said ranging signal is determined to be absent; and
prohibiting further corrective stimulation to said animal based on said ranging signal if said synchronization signal is determined to be absent. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31)
providing said receiver with processing capability to identify said training signal; and
applying an appropriate level of stimulation as dictated within said training signal sent from said handheld transmitter.
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30. The method of claim 27, wherein said ranging signal is a low frequency electromagnetic signal and said synchronization signal is a radio frequency signal.
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31. The method of claim 27, wherein if at least one of said containment transmitter assembly and said receiver suffers a hardware failure, said method further comprising the step of prohibiting said corrective stimulation to said animal.
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32. A method for providing wireless confinement of an animal, comprising the steps of:
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providing a transmitter unit for transmitting a ranging signal having a signal strength which diminishes over a propagation distance;
providing to said transmitter unit solar generated electrical power to provide truly wireless operation;
providing a receiver for receiving said ranging signal;
determining the presence or absence of said ranging signal;
providing no corrective stimulation to said animal if said ranging signal is determined to be present;
providing corrective stimulation to said animal if said ranging signal is determined to be absent. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
providing said receiver with processing capability to identify said training signal; and
applying an appropriate level of stimulation as dictated within said training signal sent from said handheld transmitter.
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35. The method of claim 32, wherein if at least one of said transmitter unit and said receiver suffers a hardware failure, said method further comprising the step of prohibiting said corrective stimulation of said animal.
Specification