WO2012120263A1

WO2012120263A1 - Pest control

Info

Publication number: WO2012120263A1
Application number: PCT/GB2012/000231
Authority: WO
Inventors: Benjamin Steven MORLEY
Original assignee: Ves Pest Control Supplies; MORELEY, Richard; MORELEY, Margaret
Priority date: 2011-03-10
Filing date: 2012-03-09
Publication date: 2012-09-13
Also published as: GB201104089D0; WO2012120263A8; EP2683234A1

Abstract

The invention relates to pest control and is particularly concerned with the control of rodents such as mice and rats. In large areas such as housing complexes, factories, industrial and commercial sites and multi- story office blocks, considerable numbers of bait stations may need to be provided, and hitherto, they all needed to be visited by an operative to check if bait had been taken and needed to be replenished. This is very time consuming, particularly if, as is frequently so, a particular bait station need not have been visited, given that no bait had been taken. An objection of the invention is to overcome the above disadvantage, an objective met by a bait station (1) that comprises a holder (9) for bait, weighing means (15) associated with the holder, and signalling means to emit a signal confirming the amount of bait on the holder.

Description

PEST CONTROL

This invention relates to pest control and is particularly concerned with the control of rodents such as mice and rats.

Control of pests such as mice and rats is predominantly by the strategic placement of poisoned bait in areas known to be infested. When those areas are within buildings or factory areas, there is a need to prevent accidental contact with poisoned bait by people or by domestic animals such as cats and dogs, or by livestock such as cattle or sheep. Thus there has long been used so-called bait stations, so structured that bait is held safe but can be accessed by the pests to be controlled. Such bait stations need periodic but regular checking and fresh bait added when necessary.

If the infested area is domestic accommodation, i.e. an individual house, bungalow, flat or the like, periodic checking of a bait station is not particularly difficult or time consuming. However, when the infested area is such as a factory unit, industrial or commercial site, multi-storey office block, block of flats or a housing estate, considerable numbers of bait stations are needed, and if installation and monitoring of such bait stations is left to a pest control officer, there can be a considerable cost in terms of an attendant to perform the locating of and checking of what can be several hundred bait stations spread throughout one infested area. The pest control officer has no means of knowing that a particular bait station requires attention in terms of replacing and replenishing any bait eaten, and much time can be wasted by finding and checking bait stations that do not require attention.

A first object of the invention is to provide a means of sensing and signalling the amount of bait within a particular bait station.

According to the present invention, a bait station comprises a holder for bait, weighing means associated with the holder, and signalling means to emit a signal confirming the amount of bait on the holder. The signal emitted from the signalling means may be received at a fixed monitoring station, or may be received by a mobile monitor carried by an officer. Whilst it is unlikely that a rodent would enter a bait station and not eat the bait on the holder, there may be an advantage to be gained by having additional sensing and signalling means in a bait station, and a second objective of the invention is to provide a means of sensing and signalling that a bait station has been entered.

The signal emitted to confirm the weight of bait on a holder in a bait station may serve the secondary purpose of acting as a locating signal, such that at a fixed monitoring station, or and more usefully, on a mobile monitor carried by an officer, the location of a bait station can be identified and shown on a map of the infested area installed on the monitoring means. Equally, each bait station may be provided with a second signalling means such as a GPS chipset to confirm its location.

When a mobile monitoring means is used, all of the information gathered during an inspection of a particular site can be downloaded at a fixed monitoring station. Data collected from both fixed and mobile stations serve a number of analytical purposes, and maintain a historic record. Thus not only can records be kept of the locations of bait stations, but also the extent to which they are penetrated by rodents. This provides valuable information not only of the degree of infestation, but also the migration of rodents over the monitored area. This aids considerably the locating of an adequate number of bait stations and a required concentration of bait stations in particular sectors of the monitored area.

What however remains of particular significance is the ease with which a pest control officer can locate an existing bait station, and have immediate advice without having to visit a rodent control unit or site location that bait in that station has been eaten. It means that not all of the bait stations in the monitored area need to be inspected, and this can provide a considerable saving of an officer's time, with a commensurate saving in the costs of inspecting bait stations by limiting bait replacement/topping-up to those bait stations from which bait has been taken.

The means to weigh bait on a holder in a bait station can, for example, be a strain gauge with an associated micro-controller able to transmit messages confirming the weight or a weight change of bait on the holder. Additional strain gauges can be provided at the entrance to a bait station, to sense the entry of a rodent and signal the micro-controller to transmit a message that the bait station has been entered. Signalling method can be, for example the use of GSM/GPRS mobile technology. Equally, a micro GPS system can be installed and also linked to the micro-controller, for a message to be transmitted to confirm the location of the bait station.

A still further aspect of the invention is a method of sensing the weight or change of weight of bait in a bait station and comprises positioning bait in a hopper in the bait station, the weight of which applies a bending moment on a strain gauge associated with the hopper, signalling a micro-controller with the change in resistivity of the strain gauge, which is proportionate to the weight of bait, periodically further signalling the microprocessor with readings of the resistivity of the strain gauge, and periodically emitting a signal for receipt by a fixed or mobile monitoring station, to show that the weight of bait remains at the level of the first signal, or that the weight of bait has been reduced, and whereby to cause an operative to visit the bait station showing a reduction in the weight of bait, and replenish the bait in the hopper.

It will be understood that other electric/electronic sensing and signalling means can be employed.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a schematic sectional plan view of a bait station in accordance with the invention with the lid open;

Figure 2 is a schematic sectional side elevation of the bait station of Figure 1 with the lid closed;

Figure 3 is a schematic side elevation of Figure 2 from one side;

Figure 4 is a schematic side elevation of Figure 2 from the other side; and Figure 5 is a block diagram representation of the electric/electronic components of the bait station of Figures 1 to 4.

In Figures 1 to 4, a bait station 1 is formed as a generally rectangular box-like structure with a housing 2, having a lid 3 containing control unit 4, and associated power source (e.g. a battery). The housing 2 and lid 3 are hinged together at 5, and the housing 2 has an entrance area 6 with access holes 7 at each side, and a rearward area 8 containing a hopper 9 for bait, there being an access hole 10 in a dividing wall 1 1 to allow a rodent entering the entrance area to reach the hopper 9.

The hopper 9 is secured by a stem 12 to the end of a flexible arm 13 attached to a support 14, the flexible arm having at least one strain gauge 15 attached to or incorporated in it.

The flexible arm 13 is caused to bend when bait is placed on the hopper 9, to a degree determined by the weight of bait. The strain resistance of the at least one strain gauge 15 varies in proportion to the degree to which the flexible arm 13 bends, and a signal is caused to be emitted proportional to the weight of bait placed on the hopper 9.

The control unit 4 causes signals to be emitted periodically, and in the circumstance of a rodent entering the bait station and taking some of or all of the bait in the hopper, the signal subsequently emitted shows that the weight of bait has been reduced, confirming to an operative that that bait station needs to be visited to replenish the bait in the hopper. Equally possible is for there to be an input signal to the control unit 4 to cause the reading of a spot value of the resistance in the strain gauge 15, and a subsequent transmission of a signal confirming the weight of bait in the hopper 9 to a fixed or mobile monitoring station with an attendant output signal of the resistance and hence the weight of bait in the hopper 9.

The manner of operation of the bait station of Figures 1 to 4 is represented by Figure 5. As in illustrated, the weighing sensor in the form of the strain gauge 15 has its resistance monitored by the control unit 4, powered by its battery, the control unit including a microprocessor that can be pre-programmed to cause a periodic measurement of the resistance of the strain gauge, but could be pre-programmed with added functionality to react to an input signal to cause the taking of a spot reading of the resistance of the strain gauge. The control unit 4 is in electronic connection with a signalling means 16 having a GSM/GPRS modem as its primary component, and whereby a signal representing the resistance of the strain gauge 15 is caused to be transmitted wirelessly to a remote station that can be a fixed receiver 17 or can be a mobile hand held receiver 18, in which there is a compatible GSM/GPRS modem.

It will be readily be understood that not only is the weight of the bait in a bait station periodically transmitted, of transmitted on request, but also the location of the bait station is signalled.

Other functions can be incorporated in the control unit such as to provide a signal of battery state and the microprocessor can be provided with a means of calibrating the weighing mechanism, to ensure that the signals reflecting the weight of bait in the hopper is accurate.

Additionally, an operator interface such as a push button may be added to the unit, which an operator can push to indicate that the unit has been manually inspected. The subsequent signal then transmitted by the unit will then indicate that manual inspection has been performed.

Claims

1. A bait station comprising a holder for bait, weighing means associated with the holder, and signalling means to emit a signal confirming the amount of bait on the holder.

2. A bait station as in Claim 1, wherein the signal emitted from the signalling means is received at a fixed monitoring station.

3. A bait station as in Claim 1 , wherein the signal emitted from the signalling means is received by a mobile monitor.

4. A bait station as in any of Claims 1 to 3, wherein an additional sensing and signalling means is provided, to sense and signal that a bait station has been entered.

5. A bait station as in any of Claims 1 to 4, wherein a signalling means is provided to act as a locating signal.

6. A bait station as in any of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the signal emitted to confirm the weight of bait in the bait station serves a secondary purpose of acting as a locating signal.

7. A bait station as in Claim 2 and Claim 5 or Claim 6, when appended to Claim 2, wherein the monitoring means, fixed or mobile are provided incorporated map means to indicate the position of a bait station emitting a signal.

8. A bait station as in Claim 2 and Claim 5 or Claim 6, when appended to Claim 2, wherein a separate monitoring unit is provided, fixed or mobile with map means to indicate the location of a bait station emitting a signal.

9. A bait station as in any of Claims 1 to 8, wherein the bait station is provided with a GPS chipset to confirm its location.

10. A bait station as in any of Claim 1 to 9, wherein the means to weigh bait is a strain gauge with an associated microprocessor to transmit messages confirming the weight or bait or weight change of bait in the bait station.

11. A bait station as in Claim 10, wherein there is provided in the bait station a hopper for bait, the hopper being secured on a flexible arm incorporating a strain gauge.

12. A bait station as in any of Claims 1 to 11, wherein the means to emit a signal incorporates GSM/GPRS mobile technology.

13. A method of sensing the weight or change of weight of bait in a bait station, comprises positioning bait in a hopper in the bait station, the weight of which applies a bending moment on a strain gauge associated with the hopper, signalling a micro-controller with the change in resistivity of the strain gauge, which is proportionate to the weight of bait, periodically further signalling the microprocessor with readings of the resistivity of the strain gauge, and periodically emitting a signal for receipt by a fixed or mobile monitoring station, to show that the weight of bait remains at the level of the first signal, or that the weight of bait has been reduced, and whereby to cause an operative to visit the bait station showing a reduction in the weight of bait, and replenish the bait in the hopper.