Patent Publication Number: US-2007107668-A1

Title: System for monitoring an animal

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention concerns wireless communications and more particularly, wireless communications for animal accessories.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Many individuals across the country have pets, such as dogs. Sometimes, these animals escape, and when they do, they put themselves, other animals and humans at risk of being injured or attacked. As such, there is a need to provide pet owners with convenient and easy to use systems that alert owners when their animals escape.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention concerns a system for monitoring an animal. The system can include a collar having a transceiver and a leash having a transceiver in which the collar transceiver and the leash transceiver communicate with one another. In one arrangement, when the leash and the collar move out of a communication range of one another, the collar can initiate a tracking procedure to allow the location of the animal wearing the collar to be determined.  
      The collar can further include a global positioning system receiver. When the tracking procedure is initiated, the global positioning system receiver can determine the location of the animal wearing the collar. In another arrangement, the collar may also include a second transceiver, which can be a long range transceiver. As part of the tracking procedure, the long range transceiver may communicate the location of the animal wearing the collar to a communications network.  
      In one embodiment, as part of the tracking procedure, the collar transceiver may transmit a notification. For example, the notification may be receivable at a second collar having a transceiver, and the second collar can include a notification module that can broadcast a notice that the animal wearing the collar is lost. As another example, the communication range between the collar and the leash may be variable, and the leash transceiver and the collar transceiver can be short range transceivers. Also, as part of the tracking procedure, portions of the collar may be placed in a low power mode.  
      In yet another arrangement, the collar can further include a speaker and a memory. As an example, the memory can store one or more audio files that may include one or more commands, and the commands can be broadcast over the speaker as part of the tracking procedure. The collar may further include a reward holder that can store a reward. When the reward holder is opened to retrieve the reward, a back-up tracking procedure may be initiated. Additionally, the collar can include a display, and the display can display a notification as part of the tracking procedure. As an example, the notification can be a lost animal notification and can include contact information of the animal&#39;s owner.  
      The present invention also concerns a collar that can include a transceiver that may communicate with another transceiver of a leash and can also include a processor coupled to the transceiver. The processor can be programmed to initiate a tracking procedure when the collar and the leash move out of a communication range of one another. The tracking procedure can allow the location of an animal wearing the collar to be determined.  
      The present invention also concerns a lost animal tracking collar. The collar can include a long range transceiver, a global positioning system receiver, a reward holder that can store an accessible reward and a processor coupled to the transceiver, the global positioning system receiver and the reward holder. In one arrangement, the processor can be programmed to initiate a tracking procedure when the reward holder is opened. The tracking procedure can allow the location of an animal wearing the collar to be determined. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:  
       FIG. 1  illustrates an example of a system for monitoring an animal in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements; and  
       FIG. 2  illustrates an example of a block diagram of the system of  FIG. 1  in accordance with an embodiment of the inventive arrangements.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawings, in which like reference numerals are carried forward.  
      As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting but rather to provide an understandable description of the invention.  
      The terms “a” or “an,” as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. The term “plurality,” as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. The term “another,” as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having,” as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The terms “coupled” and “engagement,” as used herein, are defined as connected, although not necessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically. The term “module” can be defined as any combination of hardware and/or software to enable an appropriate function to be performed.  
      The terms “program,” “application,” and the like as used herein, are defined as a sequence of instructions designed for execution on a computer system. A program, computer program, or application may include a subroutine, a function, a procedure, an object method, an object implementation, an executable application, an applet, a servlet, a source code, an object code, a shared library/dynamic load library and/or other sequence of instructions designed for execution on a computer system. Where suitable, the term “application” may even refer to a hardware setting or component.  
      The present invention concerns a system for monitoring an animal. The system can include a collar having a transceiver and a leash having a transceiver in which the collar transceiver and the leash transceiver communicate with one another. When the leash and the collar move out of a communication range of one another, the collar can initiate a tracking procedure to allow the location of the animal wearing the collar to be determined.  
      In one arrangement, the collar can further include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver. When the tracking procedure is initiated, the GPS receiver may determine the location of the animal wearing the collar. The collar can further include a second transceiver. The second transceiver may be a long range transceiver, and as part of the tracking procedure, the long range transceiver can communicate the location of the animal wearing the collar to a communications network. The system can thus provide an easy, convenient and safe way for owners to be informed when their animal(s) may escape.  
      Referring to  FIG. 1 , an example of a system  100  for monitoring an animal is shown. In one arrangement, the system  100  can include a collar  110  and a leash  112 , which can engage the collar  110 . The collar  110  can be attached to the animal in any suitable manner to allow a user to have at least some control over the animal. The collar  110  can include a casing  114  that can store several components, as will be described below. One of these components can be a display  115 , which can display various types of information. Some examples of this information will be presented later. The leash  112  may also include a casing  116  that can house several elements, which will also be explained below. In one arrangement, the collar  110  and the leash  112  may have transceivers (not shown here) that can communicate with one another.  
      Referring to  FIG. 2 , block diagrams of examples of the collar  110 , the leash  112  and a second collar  118  are shown. In one arrangement, the collar  110  can include a processor  111 , the display  115 , a GPS receiver  120 , a short range transceiver  122 , a long range transceiver  124 , a memory  126 , a reward holder  128 , a speaker  130 , a user interface  132  and a power supply  133 . The power supply  133  can be, for example, a rechargeable or disposable battery and can provide power to any one of the components listed here. The processor  111  can be coupled to and can control the operation of any one of the above-recited components. The processor  111  can include any suitable number of processors and/or controllers to carry out the functions and processes that will be described herein.  
      The GPS receiver  120 , as is known in the art, can obtain positional information of the collar  110  from a plurality of GPS satellites (not shown). Those of skill in the art, however, will appreciate that there are several other ways to acquire the location of the collar  110 . In one arrangement, the short range transceiver  122  can communicate with another short range transceiver  134  of the leash  112 . As an example, the short range transceivers  122 ,  134  can communicate with one another using any suitable short range communications protocol, such as Bluetooth or any one of the standards of the 802.11 family. In particular, the term short range transceiver can refer to any transceiver that is intended to transmit and/or receive signals between itself and another component without relying on a repeater to relay the signals. In addition, the term transceiver can refer to any component that is capable of either transmitting or receiving radio frequency (RF) signals. Moreover, the collar  110  can have any suitable number of short range transceivers  122 .  
      The short range transceivers  122 ,  134  can have a communication range. Within the communication range, the signal strength from the transceivers  122 ,  134  can be at or above a predetermined value. Outside the communication range, the signal strength can be below this predetermined value. By monitoring such signal strengths, it can be determined when the collar  110  and the leash  112  have moved outside the communication range. The communication range can represent any suitable distance and can depend on the type of transceivers  122 ,  134  used. In one arrangement, the communication range can be variable. For example, a user may adjust the transmission power of one or both of the transceivers  122 ,  134 . Several processes can be performed after the collar  110  and leash  112  move beyond their communication range, as will be described later.  
      In one arrangement, the long range transceiver  124  can communicate with one or more communications networks (not shown). That is, a long range transceiver can be considered any transceiver that is intended to rely on a repeater to relay communications signals to another communications unit. As an example, the long range transceiver  124  can employ any suitable type of long range communications protocol or standard, such as GSM, CDMA, iDEN, UMTS, etc. In short, the long range transceiver  124  can transmit information to and receive information from any suitable communication network. The collar  110  can include any suitable number of long range transceivers  124 , too.  
      The memory  126  can be any suitable type of data storage unit, and it may be a discrete component or it can be part of the processor  111 . In one particular example, the memory  126  can store audio files, and these audio files may be broadcast over the speaker  130 . The memory  126  may also store contact information of the owner of an animal wearing the collar  110 , such as the owner&#39;s name, home or work address, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. In one arrangement, this contact information can be displayed on the display  115 . Also, as an example, the user interface  132  can be a keypad having a plurality of keys and a microphone, and a user can enter his or her contact information into the memory  126  through the user interface  132 . A user may also program the collar  110  through the user interface  132  with which particular steps to take during a tracking procedure, and this predetermined routine may be stored in the memory  126 .  
      The reward holder  128  can be a physical storage component that can store any suitable type of reward, such as cash. The reward holder  128  may include a door (not shown) that can be opened to permit a person to retrieve the reward. When this door is opened, the reward holder  128  can signal the processor  111 , which can trigger certain procedures, as will be explained later.  
      The system  100  may also include a second collar  136  that may be worn by an animal, and the second collar  136  can also have a short range transceiver  140  that can communicate with the short range transceiver  122  of the collar  110 . In addition, the second collar  136  can include a notification module  138 , such as a speaker and/or a display. The notification module  138  can display or broadcast information that is received at the transceiver  140  from the transceiver  122  of the collar  110 .  
      In operation, the short range transceiver  122  of the collar  110  may be communicating with the short range transceiver  134  of the leash  112 . Passive or active scanning can be performed by either one of the transceivers  122 ,  134  to carry out this communication. As noted above, the transceivers  122 ,  134  can have a communication range. During this communication, the processor  111  can monitor the signal strength of the signals received from the transceiver  134  of the leash  112  to determine if the transceivers  122 ,  134  have moved outside the communication range. If the signal strength drops below a predetermined value or threshold, then the processor  111  can determine that the collar  110  has moved outside this communication range and can initiate a tracking procedure. Such a situation may occur if the animal wearing the collar  110  has escaped from a yard or home or some other enclosure or boundary.  
      As an example of a tracking procedure, the processor  111  can signal the GPS receiver  120  to obtain the location of the collar  110 . Once obtained, the processor  111  can instruct the long range transceiver  124  to signal the appropriate communications network with the location of the collar  110 . In accordance with the instructions pre-programmed by the owner or user, the communications network can then signal the appropriate contact number or address.  
      For example, the network may place a call to a number of the owner&#39;s choice and the network can play a recording that notifies the owner or other person that the animal wearing the collar  110  may have escaped and can recite the location of the collar  110 . Alternatively, the communication network may send an e-mail with such information. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that there are numerous ways to forward to a relevant party the escaped or lost animal notice and the location of the collar  110 . This process can be repeated any suitable number of times to permit the relevant party to be updated with the animal&#39;s location.  
      In another arrangement, a lost animal or pet notice can be displayed on the display  115  and/or a similar message can be broadcast over the speaker  130 . Either of these notices or messages may also include appropriate contact information of the animal&#39;s owner.  
      In yet another example of a tracking procedure, the processor  111  can instruct the short range transceiver  122  to begin transmitting on a periodic basis. Specifically, the transceiver  122  can transmit a lost animal notification along with contact information of the animal&#39;s owner. This transmitted information may be received by the short range transceiver  140  of a second collar  136 . Once received at the second collar  136 , this information can be displayed or broadcast at the notification module  138 . The owner or person in control over the animal wearing the second collar  136  can then be notified that the animal wearing the collar  110  has escaped. This person has the option of then contacting the owner of the lost animal.  
      As described above, the memory  126  of the collar  110  can store one or more audio files, which can be played over the speaker  130 . These audio files may be commands from the owner or some other person. For example, the owner, through the user interface  132 , may record one or more commands that may be recognized by the animal wearing the collar  110 , such as “sit” or “stay” or “come home,” depending on the animal&#39;s prior training. As part of the tracking procedure, the processor  111  can retrieve these commands from the memory  126  and can cause them to be broadcast over the speaker  130 . As a result, the escaped animal may hear, recognize and possibly submit to these pre-recorded commands.  
      As another part of the tracking procedure, portions of the collar  110  may be placed in a low power mode. For example, the processor  111  may disable certain functions or enter into deep sleep stages. Also, if one of the long range transceiver  124  or the short range transceiver  122  is able to establish communications with a network or another short range transceiver, respectively, then the transceiver  122 , 124  that has yet to make contact may be disabled in an effort to conserve power for the transceiver  122 ,  124  that has. Further, the frequency at which the GPS receiver  120  obtains positional information can be reduced as the energy of the power supply  133  decreases. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that other non-essential components of the collar  110  may be disabled, and any suitable priority ranking system can be employed here.  
      As a back-up tracking procedure, a person may open the door to the reward holder  128 . For example the person may recognize that the animal wearing the collar  110  has escaped and is lost. When this person opens the door of the reward holder  128 , the person can retrieve the reward stored inside. In addition, the reward holder  128  can signal the processor  111 . When signaled, the processor  111  can initiate the tracking procedure, in accordance with any of the steps described above.  
      This tracking procedure may be considered a back-up procedure. In particular, there may be a malfunction in determining that the collar  110  has moved outside the communication range, and the reward holder  128  can be the device that starts the tracking procedure. As another alternative, the reward holder  128  can be used as the primary means to initiate the procedure. For example, the collar  110  may not include a short range transceiver  122 , and accessing the reward in the reward holder  128  can actually trigger the tracking procedure.  
      It should be noted that the invention is not limited to the above examples of steps that may be performed during a tracking procedure. Those of skill in the art will appreciate that other suitable actions for determining the location of the animal and assisting in its safe return to its owner are within contemplation of the inventive arrangements. Also, when considering the examples recited above, it is important to note that the invention is not required to include all of them as part of a tracking procedure. In fact, any suitable combination of these examples and other processes not described here can form a tracking procedure.  
      Where applicable, the present invention can be realized in hardware, software or a combination of hardware and software. Any kind of computer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein are suitable. A typical combination of hardware and software can be a mobile communications device with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, can control the mobile communications device such that it carries out the methods described herein. Portions of the present invention may also be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein and which when loaded in a computer system, is able to carry out these methods.  
      While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be clear that the invention is not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.