Patent Publication Number: US-2013247837-A1

Title: Collar apparatus for animal training with length adjustable leash

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a collar apparatus for animal training with a length adjustable leash, and more particularly to a collar apparatus for animal training which can train an animal to act in a desirable manner by mechanically adjusting a length of a leash connected to an animal&#39;s body and applying a vibration or an electrical stimulation to the animal to control the animal. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Recently, with the improvement of the quality of life, the number of households considering animals such as a dog, a cat and the like as a family member is continuously increased and thus pet related businesses are steadily increased. 
     Accordingly, various animal products having good quality, for example, a dye and a leash or a collar connected to an animal&#39;s body as well as food for animals have been released. 
     Among such a product targeting animals, a leash is connected to the animal&#39;s body in order to enable a master to easily control the animal when they go out for a walk. The leash is used as a means for controlling such that the animal acts within a range of activity and preventing the animal from escaping. 
     However, in the conventional arts, it is difficult to automatically adjust the leash for controlling the range of activity of the animal so that a master of the animal experiences inconvenience. 
     Further, when an animal injures other people while taking a walk, the master also experiences inconvenience since there is no method of controlling the animal. 
     Accordingly, it is required to provide an apparatus which, when the animal acts with undesirable behavior such as barking and the like, enables the animal to recognize the undesirable behavior and trains the animal to desirably act by applying an electrical stimulation or a vibration to the animal through adjusting a length of the leash connected to the animal&#39;s body. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and the present invention provides a collar apparatus for animal training with a length adjustable leash which, when the animal acts an undesirable behavior, can applies a vibration or an electrical stimulation to an animal to make the animal desirable act while automatically adjusting a length of the leash connected to the animal&#39;s body. 
     Further, the present invention provides a collar apparatus for animal training with a length adjustable leash which can wirelessly control an operation of an electrical stimulation or a vibration when the electrical stimulation or the vibration is applied to the animal to make the animal desirably act. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a collar apparatus for animal training with a length adjustable leash, the collar apparatus including a body for wirelessly transferring a vibration generating command or an electrical stimulation generating command and a vibration intensity command or an electrical stimulation intensity command to a collar worn on an animal&#39;s body, the body including a length adjustable leash connected to the animal&#39;s body; and the collar for receiving the vibration generating command or the electrical stimulation generating command and the vibration intensity command or the electrical stimulation intensity command from the body and generating a vibration or an electrical stimulation having an intensity according to a corresponding command. 
     The body may include a key input unit comprising a leash length adjusting key for adjusting a leash length, a vibration generating key for generating the vibration, an electrical stimulation generating key for generating the electrical stimulation, and an intensity adjusting key for adjusting a vibration intensity or an electrical stimulation intensity; a leash length adjustor for fixing the length of the leash connected to the animal&#39;s body according to an input of the leash length adjusting key; a body storage unit for storing a vibration generating command code according to an input of the vibration generating key, an electrical stimulation generating command code according to an input of the electrical stimulation generating key, a vibration intensity command code or an electrical stimulation intensity command code according to an input of the intensity adjusting key, and a device identification code; a controller for extracting a vibration command code or an electrical stimulation command code and a vibration intensity command code or an electrical stimulation intensity command code corresponding to a key input from the key input unit, extracting the device identification code, and generating transmission data; and a transmitter for transmitting the transmission data generated through the controller. 
     The intensity adjusting key may include a volume key. 
     The collar may include a vibration generator for generating the vibration while being in contact with the animal&#39;s body; an electrical stimulation generator for generating the electrical stimulation while being in contact with the animal&#39;s body; a receiver for receiving the transmission data; and a collar controller for analyzing the transmission data and controlling the vibration generator and the electrical stimulation generator such that the vibration or the electrical stimulation having the intensity according to the corresponding command is generated. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a collar apparatus for animal training with a length adjustable leash according to embodiments of the present invention, 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an inter construction of the collar apparatus for animal training with a length adjustable leash according to embodiments of the present invention, 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a process of generating transmission data for controlling activity of the animal in the collar apparatus for animal training with a length adjustable leash according to embodiments of the present invention, and 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a construction of transmission data according to embodiments of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description and drawings, the same reference numerals are used to designate the same or similar components, and so repetition of the description on the same or similar components will be omitted. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a collar apparatus for animal training with a length adjustable leash according to embodiments of the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the collar apparatus for animal training with the length adjustable leash includes a body  100  for wirelessly transferring a vibration or an electrical stimulation generating command to the collar connected to an animal&#39;s body while automatically adjusting the length of the leash connected to the animal&#39;s body in order to easily control the animal based on its range of activity and a collar  200  for generating a vibration or an electrical stimulation according to the command transferred from the body  100  connected to the animal&#39;s body. 
     Although it is assumed in embodiments of the present invention that the collar  200  is wore on an animal&#39;s neck, it goes without saying that the collar  200  can be connected to any part such as a body or a foot of the animal instead of the neck. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram of an inter construction of the collar apparatus for animal training with a length adjustable leash according to embodiments of the present invention. 
     The body  100  includes a body controller  110 , a key input unit  120 , a leash length adjustor  130 , a body storage unit  140 , a transmitter  150 , and a battery (not shown). 
     The key input unit  120  includes a vibration generating key  121  for making vibration generated in the collar  200  connected to the animal&#39;s body, an electrical stimulation generating key  122  for making an electrical stimulation generated in the collar  200  connected to the animal&#39;s body, an intensity adjusting key  123  for adjusting an intensity of the vibration or the electrical stimulation, and a leash length adjusting key  124  for automatically adjusting a length of the leash connected to the animal&#39;s body. 
     At this time, the intensity adjusting key  123  may include a volume key. The leash length adjusting key  124  includes a lever for fixing the leash length. When the leash length adjusting key  124  is moved forwardly, an adjustment of the leash length is impossible. When the leash length adjusting key  124  is moved backwardly, the adjustment of the leash length is possible. 
     Further, although it has been described in embodiments of the present invention that the electrical stimulation generating key  122  is implemented as one key, the electrical stimulation generating key  122  can be implemented as two keys including a high electrical stimulation generating key and a low electrical stimulation generating key. 
     The leash length adjustor  130  has a leash therein, and the leash length is automatically adjusted in accordance with activity of the animal. Further, the leash length is fixed or adjusted according to an input of the leash length adjusting key  124 . 
     The body storage unit  140  stores a command code of each key included in the key input unit  120 , and stores an identification code for identifying the body  100 . 
     At this time, the command code of each key may be a code according to a vibration generating command, a code according to an electrical stimulation generating command, and a code for indicating intensities of the vibration and the electrical stimulation. 
     The transmitter  150  transfers transmission data according to the vibration generating command or the electrical stimulation generating command to the collar  200 . 
     The body controller  110  controls a general operation of the body  100 , extracts an intensity command code according to an input of the intensity adjusting key  123  when the intensity adjusting key  123  is input, and extracts the vibration generating command code or the electrical stimulation generating command code when the vibration generating key  121  or the electrical stimulation generating key  122  is input. 
     Further, the body controller  110  extracts the identification code of the body  100 , generates the transmission data by using the vibration generating command code or the electrical stimulation generating command code and the identification code of the body  100 , and then transfers the generated transmission data to the collar  200 . 
     The collar  200  includes a collar controller  210 , a receiver  220 , a collar storage unit  230 , an electrical stimulation generator  240 , a vibration generator  250 , and a battery (not shown). 
     The receiver  220  receives the transmission data from the transmitter  150  of the body  100 . 
     The collar storage unit  230  stores the identification code of the body  100 . 
     The electrical stimulation generator  240  includes a pair of electric shock terminals in contact with the animal&#39;s body, and adjusts an intensity of an electricity (voltage or current) flowing through the electric shocks under a control of the controller  210 . 
     The vibration generator  250  includes a sensor for generating a vibration while being in contact with the animal&#39;s body, and generates the vibration while adjusting an intensity of the vibration under the control of the controller  210 . 
     The collar controller  210  controls a general operation of the collar  200 , and analyzes the transmission data received through the receiver  220 . 
     Further, when it is determined that an identification code contained in the transmission data is the identification code of the body  100 , the collar controller  210  analyzes the intensity command code, the vibration generating command code, or the electrical stimulation generating command code, and controls such that the vibration or the electrical stimulation is generated based on an intensity according to the intensity command code. 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a process of generating transmission data for controlling activity of the animal in the collar apparatus for animal training with a length adjustable leash according to embodiments of the present invention, and  FIG. 4  illustrates a configuration of transmission data according to embodiments of the present invention. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the body  100  determines an intensity of the vibration or the electrical stimulation, that is, an intensity level when the intensity adjusting key  123  is input in step S 301 , and extracts the vibration generating command code and the command code for the vibration intensity in step S 304  when the vibration generating key  121  is input in step S 302 . 
     Further, the body  100  extracts the identification code of the body  100  in step S 305 , and configures the transmission data by using the vibration generating command code, the vibration intensity command code, and the identification code of the body  100 . 
     At this time, the generated transmission data is as shown in  FIG. 4 , and includes a start bit indicating a start of a frame of the transmission data, a vibration generating command bit  401  indicating the vibration generating command code, an identification code bit  402  indicating the identification code of the body  100 , an intensity command bit  403  indicating the vibration intensity command code, and a stop bit indicating an end of the frame of the transmission data. 
     When the transmission data having the aforementioned configuration is generated, the body  100  transfers the generated transmission data to the collar  200  in step S 307 . 
     However, the body  100  does not receive the input of the vibration generating key  121  in step S 302 , and determines whether the electrical stimulation generating key  122  is input in step S 303 . 
     Further, when it is determined that the electrical stimulation generating key  122  is input, the body  100  extracts the electrical stimulation generating command code and the command code for the electrical stimulation intensity in step S 304 . 
     Furthermore, the body  100  extracts the identification code of the body  100  in step S 305 , and configures the transmission data by using the electrical stimulation generating command code, the electrical stimulation intensity command code, and the identification code of the body  100  in step S 306 . 
     At this time, the generated transmission data is as shown in  FIG. 4 , and includes a start bit indicating a start of a frame of the transmission data, a vibration generating command bit  401  indicating the vibration generating command code, an identification code bit  402  indicating the identification code of the body  100 , an intensity command bit  403  indicating the vibration intensity command code, and a stop bit indicating an end of the frame of the transmission data. 
     When the transmission data having the aforementioned configuration is generated, the body  100  transfers the generated transmission data to the collar  200  in step S 307 . 
     Thereafter, the collar  200  generates the vibration or the electrical stimulation having a corresponding intensity according to the transmission data transmitted from the body  100 . 
     Accordingly, the master can train the animal to act in a desirable manner by wirelessly applying the vibration or the electrical stimulation to the animal while automatically adjusting the length of the leash in accordance with the range of activity of the animal when the animal acts with undesirable behavior. 
     Therefore, the present invention has an effect of training an animal to act in a desirable manner by automatically adjusting a length of a leash connected to a body of the animal when the animal acts an undesirable behavior. 
     Further, the present invention has an effect of wirelessly controlling an operation of a vibration or an electrical stimulation when applying the vibration or the electrical stimulation to the animal to make the animal act in a desirable manner. 
     Although an exemplary embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.