The present invention relates to an electronic animal trap and, more particularly, to controlling a shock output of an electronic animal trap.

Electronic animal traps function by delivering an electric shock of a certain power to an animal in the trap. The level of delivered power is designed to reliably kill the trapped animal. To generate the shock, some electronic animal traps draw power from batteries. The output voltage from the batteries dictates in part the power of the shock delivered by the trap.

The output voltage of the batteries, however, decreases over the life of the batteries. The power of the shock output by the trap is therefore dependent on the remaining battery life; the electronic trap outputs a shock with more power than designed when the batteries are new, and outputs a shock with less power than designed when the batteries are low. Using more power than necessary when the batteries are new results in a shorter lifespan of the batteries and a correspondingly lesser number of uses of the electronic trap before replacing the batteries. Using less power than necessary when the batteries are low results in a less reliable kill of the trapped animal.

A system according to the present invention for controlling a shock output of an electronic animal trap includes a battery, a transformer having a primary coil connected to the battery, and a controller connected to the battery and the primary coil. The controller has a shock cycle module determining a battery capacity of the battery and determining a shock enable time based on the battery capacity. The shock cycle module controls a primary current from the battery to run through the primary coil for the shock enable time.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying Figures, of which: Figure l is a schematic block diagram of a system of an electronic animal trap according to an embodiment;

Figure 2 is a circuit diagram of a controller of the system;

Figure 3 is a circuit diagram of the system;

Figure 4 is a flowchart of an adjustment of a shock output voltage of the system;

Figure 5A is a graph of a voltage in a primary coil of a transformer of the system according to a first embodiment;

Figure 5B is a graph of a current in the primary coil in the first embodiment;

Figure 5C is a graph of a current in a secondary coil of the transformer of the first embodiment;

Figure 5D is a graph of a shock output voltage of the secondary coil in the first embodiment;

Figure 6A is a graph of the voltage in the primary coil according to a second embodiment;

Figure 6B is a graph of the current in the primary coil in the second embodiment;

Figure 6C is a graph of the current in the secondary coil in the second embodiment; and

Figure 6D is a graph of the shock output voltage of the secondary coil in the second embodiment.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will convey the concept to those skilled in the art. A system of an electronic animal trap according to an embodiment for controlling a shock output of the electronic animal trap is shown in Figures 1-3. The system, as shown in Figure 1, comprises a controller 10, a battery 20, a charge pump 30 connected to the controller 10 and the battery 20, a voltage adjuster 40 connected to the controller 10 and the charge pump 30, a transformer 50 connected to the battery 20, a field-effect transistor 60 connected to the voltage adjuster 40 and the transformer 50, and a plurality of shocking plates 70.

The controller 10, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, includes a processor 12, a memory 14 connected to the processor 12, and a shock cycle module 16. The memory 14 is a non-transitory computer readable medium, such as ROM or RAM, capable of storing computer instructions thereon that are executable by the processor 12. The shock cycle module 16, described in greater detail below with reference to Figure 4, is a process or a series of functions performed by the controller 10 when the processor 12 executes an algorithm stored in the memory 14.

The controller 10, as shown in Figure 1, transmits a first charge pulse 17 and a second charge pulse 18 to the charge pump 30, and transmits a shock pulse 19 to the voltage adjuster 40. In an embodiment, the first charge pulse 17, the second charge pulse 18, and the shock pulse 19 are each 3.3 volts (V).

The battery 20, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, is connected to the controller 10, the charge pump 30, and the transformer 50 and supplies a battery voltage 22 to the controller 10, the charge pump 30, and the transformer 50. In an embodiment, the battery voltage 22 is approximately 6 V. In an embodiment, the battery 20 is a plurality of D cell batteries, for example, four D cell batteries. In other embodiments, the battery 20 may be a single or any combination of known batteries capable of supplying a voltage necessary for a shock power described herein. The battery 20 has a battery capacity 24 corresponding to an approximate remaining life or capacity of the battery 20. In the shown embodiment, the battery capacity 24 is expressed as a percentage, but may alternatively be any other measure of capacity.

The charge pump 30, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, receives the battery voltage 22 from the battery 20 and is connected to the controller 10 and the voltage adjuster 40. The charge pump 30 is connected to the controller 10 at a first charge point 32 and a second charge point 34; the first charge point 32 receives the first charge pulse 17 from the controller 10 and the second charge point 34 receives the second charge pulse 18 from the controller 10, as described in greater detail below. The charge pump 30 is adapted to boost the battery voltage 22 to a boosted voltage 36 that is higher than the battery voltage 22. In an embodiment, the battery voltage 22 is 6 V and the boosted voltage 36 is 10 V.

The voltage adjuster 40, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, receives the boosted voltage 36 from the charge pump 30 and the shock pulse 19 from the controller 10. The voltage adjuster 40 outputs an adjusted voltage 42 based on the boosted voltage 36 and the shock pulse 19; the voltage adjuster 40 ensures that the adjusted voltage 42 is output at a consistent voltage level. In an embodiment, the adjusted voltage 42 is 10 V.

The transformer 50, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, has a primary coil 52 and a secondary coil 54 inductively coupled to the primary coil 52. The primary coil 52 has a primary number of turns that is less than a secondary number of turns of the secondary coil 54, and the turns of the secondary coil 54 are oriented in a direction opposite to the turns of the primary coil 52. The primary coil 52 is connected to the battery 20 and receives the battery voltage 22 from the battery 20. In an embodiment, the transformer 50 is a flyback transformer.

The field-effect transistor 60, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, receives the adjusted voltage 42 from the voltage adjuster 40. In an embodiment, the field-effect transistor 60 is a metal -oxide- semi conductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). The field-effect transistor 60, based on the adjusted voltage 42 received from the voltage adjuster 40, acts as a gate to allow or prevent a primary current from the battery 20 from flowing through the primary coil 52.

At least one of the plurality of shocking plates 70, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, is electrically connected to the secondary coil 54. As described in greater detail below with reference to Figures 4-6, at least one of the shocking plates 70 receives a shock output voltage 56 from the secondary coil 54 induced from the current flowing through the primary coil 52. In an embodiment, one of the shocking plates 70 is indirectly connected to the controller 10 through a protection circuitry; this shocking plate 70 does not receive the shock output voltage 56 from the secondary coil 54 but connects to ground through a diode.

A controlling 100 of the shock output voltage 56 executed by the shock cycle module 16 will now be described in greater detail with reference to Figures 1 and 4-6D.

A detection step 110, as shown in Figure 4, initiates the shock cycle module 16. In the detection step 110, the shock cycle module 16 detects whether an animal is positioned on the shocking plates 70. The shock cycle module 16 has a detected state and an open state. In the detected state, the shock cycle module 16 determines that an animal is positioned on the shocking plates 70 by detection of a predetermined impedance across the shocking plates 70, with the animal itself connecting the shocking plates 70. In the open state, the shock cycle module 16 determines that no animal is positioned on the shocking plates 70 by detection of an open circuit between the shocking plates 70. In an exemplary embodiment, the predetermined impedance is ten kilohms to one megohm, corresponding to a resistance level of a rat. In other embodiments, the predetermined impedance level may be adjusted to correspond to the resistance level of any other animal for which the trap is intended. In other embodiments, the shock cycle module 16 could be initiated based on any other detection of the presence of an animal on the shocking plates 70.

In a battery determination step 120, as shown in Figure 4, the shock cycle module 16 determines the battery capacity 24 of the battery 20 after the shock cycle module 16 is initiated. The controller 10 receives the battery voltage 22 of the battery 20. The shock cycle module 16 determines the battery capacity 24 based on a relationship between the battery voltage 22 and the battery capacity 24 stored in the memory 14. For a 6 V battery 20, for example, a battery voltage 22 of 6 V corresponds to a battery capacity 24 of 100%, and a battery voltage 22 of approximately 4.8 V corresponds to a battery capacity 24 of 0%. In an embodiment, the relationship between the battery voltage 22 and the battery capacity 24 is linear and, in other embodiments, the shock cycle module 16 may determine the battery capacity 24 by any other method. In a total shock time step 130, as shown in Figure 4, the shock cycle module 16 sets a total shock time for applying the shock output voltage 56 to the shocking plates 70 for a single detection of an animal on the shocking plates 70. The total shock time, as described in greater detail below, includes a plurality of shock cycles 200 as shown in Figures 5A-6D. In an embodiment, if the animal detected on the shocking plates 70 is a mouse, the total shock time is 20 seconds. In another embodiment, if the animal detected on the shocking plates 70 is a rat, the total shock time is 120 seconds. In other embodiments, the particular animal detected on the shocking plates 70 and the total shock time can vary based on the desired application.

The shock cycle module 16 calculates a wait time 240 and a shock enable time 230 of the shock cycle 200, shown in Figures 5A-6D, in a shock cycle calculation step 140 shown in Figure 4. In an embodiment, the wait time 240 is calculated according to the following equation:

Wait Time = 6*(Battery Capacity) + 800 (Equation 1)

The shock cycle module 16 performs the calculation of Equation 1 with the battery capacity 24 determined from step 120 in units of whole number percentages (i.e. percentage* 100), calculating the wait time 240 in units of microseconds (ps). In an embodiment, the shock enable time 230 is calculated according to the following equation:

Shock Enable Time = 2300 - Wait Time (Equation 2)

The shock cycle module 16 performs the calculation of Equation 2 after the wait time 240 is calculated, calculating the shock enable time 230 in units of microseconds.

Although each of the shock enable time 230 and the wait time 240 depend on the battery capacity 24 as shown in the above equations, a total duration of the shock enable time 230 and the wait time 240 is the same and is independent of the battery capacity 24. In the shown embodiment, the total duration of the shock enable time 230 and the wait time 240 is 2.3 ms. With the shock enable time 230 and the wait time 240 calculated, the shock cycle module 16 performs a start charge pump step 150, shown in Figure 4. In the step 150, the shock cycle module 16 controls the controller 10 to send the first charge pulse 17 to the first charge point 32, and thereafter sends the second charge pulse 18 to the second charge point 34. The shock cycle module 16 continues to control the controller 10 to altematingly send the first charge pulse 17 to the first charge point 32 and the second charge pulse 18 to the second charge point 34 for a number of cycles. In an embodiment, the number of cycles is 20, and the first charge pulse 17 and the second charge pulse 18 each have a duration of 1 millisecond (ms). The step 150 in part allows the charge pump 30 to boost the battery voltage 22 to the boosted battery voltage 36 that is sufficient to operate the field-effect transistor 60.

After the charge pump 30 is activated in the start charge pump step 150, as shown in Figure 4, the shock cycle module 16 executes a shock cycle process 160 corresponding to the shock cycle 200 shown in Figures 5A-6D.

In a first pulse step 162 of the shock cycle process 160, as shown in Figure 4, the shock cycle module 16 controls the controller 10 to send the first charge pulse 17 to the first charge point 32 for a first charge pulse time 210 shown in Figures 5A-6D. In the shown embodiment, the first charge pulse time 210 is 1 ms.

In a second pulse step 164 of the shock cycle process 160, as shown in Figure 4, the shock cycle module 16 controls the controller 10 to send the second charge pulse 18 to the second charge point 34 for a second charge pulse time 220 shown in Figures 5A-6D. The second charge pulse time 220 is the same as the first charge pulse time 210 and, in the shown embodiment, is 1 ms. In addition to the start charge pump step 150, the steps 162 and 164 allow the charge pump 30 to boost the battery voltage 22 to the boosted voltage 36 that is sufficient to operate the field-effect transistor 60.

In a shock pulse step 166 of the shock cycle process 160, as shown in Figure 4, the shock cycle module 16 activates the field-effect transistor 60. The shock cycle module 16 controls the controller 10 to output the shock pulse 19 through the voltage adjuster 40 and to the field-effect transistor 60. With the boosted voltage 36 from steps 150, 162, and 164, and the shock pulse 19, the adjusted voltage 42 output by the voltage adjuster 40 is sufficient to activate the field-effect transistor 60. The shock pulse 19 is output by the controller 10 for the shock enable time 230 determined in step 140, activating the field-effect transistor 60 for the shock enable time 230. In an embodiment, in the shock pulse step 166, the shock cycle module 16 also controls the controller 10 to send the first charge pulse 17 to the charge pump 30 for the shock enable time 230 to maintain a charge of the charge pump 30.

Figures 5A-5D show a plurality of shock cycles 200 according to a first exemplary embodiment and Figures 6A-6D show a plurality of shock cycles 200 according to a second exemplary embodiment. As shown in Figures 5A and 6A, the activation of the field-effect transistor 60 in step 166 of Figure 4 applies the battery voltage 22 to the primary coil 52 and, as shown in Figures 5B and 6B, allows a primary current I52 corresponding to the battery voltage 22 to increase in the primary coil 52 for the shock enable time 230.

In a wait step 168 of the shock cycle process 160, as shown in Figure 4, the shock cycle module 16 sends the second charge pulse 18 to the second charge point 34 for the wait time 240 determined in step 140.

At the end of the shock enable time 230, and the transition of the shock pulse step 166 to the wait step 168, the field-effect transistor 60 is switched off or deactivated. When the field-effect transistor 60 is switched off, the primary current I52 in the primary coil 52 shown in Figures 5B and 6B induces a secondary current I54 in the secondary coil 54 shown in Figures 5C and 6C. Because the secondary number of turns of the secondary coil 54 is greater than the primary number of turns of the primary coil 52, and is oriented in an opposite direction, the shock output voltage 56 output from the secondary coil 54 and applied to the shocking plates 70, shown in Figures 5D and 6D, is much larger than the battery voltage 22 and has a negative charge. In an embodiment, the shock output voltage 56 is approximately 7 kV. In other embodiments, the particular value of the shock output voltage 56 can be different based on the application. The shock cycle process 160, corresponding to a single shock cycle 200, ends at the end of the wait time 240 in step 168. In an embodiment, the single shock cycle 200 has a total length of 4.3 ms. As shown in Figure 4, after the wait step 168, the shock cycle module 16 compares a current shock time to the total shock time determined in step 130 in a cycle determination step 170, the current shock time reflective of a time for the shock cycle process 160. If the current shock time is less than the total shock time, the shock cycle module 16 initiates the shock cycle process 160 again, resulting in additional shock cycles 200 as shown in Figures 5A-6D. The shock cycle module 16 continues to loop through the shock cycle process 160 until the current shock time is greater than or equal to the total shock time, upon which the process of controlling 100 the shock output voltage 56 ends.

As shown in the embodiment of Figures 5A-5D and the embodiment of Figures 6A-6D, the calculation of the shock enable time 230 depending on the battery capacity 24 results in a shock output voltage 56 that is the same regardless of the battery capacity 24. The battery voltage 22 and the amount of time that the field-effect transistor 60 remains open in the shock pulse step 166, determined by the shock enable time 230, determine an energy stored in the transformer 50 that can induce the secondary current I54 in the secondary coil 54. Targeting a same peak primary current I52 in the primary coil 52, as shown in Figures 5B and 6B, induces a same secondary current I54 in the secondary coil 54 at the switching off of the field-effect transistor 60, which creates a same shock output voltage 56. The control based on the calculated shock enable time 230 permits the shock output voltage 56 to be independent of the battery capacity 24.

Figures 5A-5D show an exemplary embodiment in which the battery capacity 24 is 100%; in this embodiment, the shock enable time 230 is 0.9 ms according to Equation 1 and Equation 2 above. Figures 6A-6D conversely show an exemplary embodiment in which the battery capacity 24 is 5%; in this embodiment, the shock enable time 230 is 1.47 ms according to Equation 1 and Equation 2. Because the battery voltage 22 is lower in the exemplary embodiment of Figures 6A- 6D, the field-effect transistor 60 must remain activated for a longer shock enable time 230 in order to achieve a target peak primary current I52 in the primary coil 52. This calculation allows the output of a consistent shock output voltage 56, 7,500 kV in the shown embodiment, prolonging the life of the battery 22 and maintaining the shock output voltage 56 at an ideal level for effectiveness.

In other embodiments, the single shock cycle 200 can have any total length between 2 ps and 1 second, and the shock enable time 230 can have any length between 1 ps and 500 ms, provided the shock enable time 230 is adjusted based on the battery 20 condition as described above. In another embodiment, the first pulse step 162 and the second pulse step 164 can be omitted, with each shock cycle process 160 starting with the shock pulse step 166 and including only the shock enable time 230 and the wait time 240.

List of Reference Numerals

10 controller

12 processor

14 memory

16 shock cycle module

17 first charge pulse

18 second charge pulse

19 shock pulse

20 battery

22 battery voltage

24 battery capacity

30 charge pump

32 first charge point

34 second charge point

36 boosted voltage

40 voltage adjuster

42 adjusted voltage

50 transformer

52 primary coil

54 secondary coil

56 shock output voltage

60 field-effect transistor

70 shocking plates

100 controlling process

110 detection step

120 battery determination step 130 total shock time step

140 shock cycle calculation step

150 start charge pump step

160 shock cycle process 162 first pulse step

164 second pulse step

166 shock pulse step

168 wait step 170 cycle determination step

200 shock cycle

210 first charge pulse time

220 second charge pulse time 230 shock enable time 240 wait time

V ₅₂ primary voltage in primary coil I ₅₂ primary current in primary coil I ₅₄ secondary current in secondary coil V ₅₄₍₅₆₎ secondary voltage in secondary coil and shock output voltage