GB2296985A - Lost pet alerting device - Google Patents

Abstract

An alerting device for attachment to a pet's collar via hole 13 is disclosed. A resettable timer (15 fig 2) operates to illuminate light 16 after a predetermined period to indicate that the pet is lost. The device has a casing 12 comprising two dished parts 12A and 12B, releasably inter-engaging at side walls 21, 22. The side wall 12A has internal formations 24 for fitting a printed circuit board 14 carrying all the battery operated electronic circuitry. A re-set switch 18 is operable by flexing an adjacent area of wall 12A. The light protrudes through an aperture with a compressible elastomeric seal 26. The casing is waterproof.

Description

TITLE: PORTABLE ALERTING DEVICE DESCRIPDON The present invention relates to portable alerting devices such as applicable to locating lost pet animals.

One of the problems with owning a pet, such as a cat or dog, is that it may stray from home and then get lost.

Unfortunately, it is not always apparent to strangers that an animal has strayed or is lost. Prior known proposals have various disadvantages. Many seek to integrate alerting provisions into a special collar that may be cumbersome, expensive, not to everyone taste, and generally disadvantageous from usually including electrical connections along it between control electronics and a display device. Others appear to be of such broad outline type as to lack practicality, including as to important design features for their intended purposes.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a practical portable alerting device easily applied to a pet animal and readily operated for delayed locating purposes.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a portable alerting device comprises an enclosing structure such as a casing that is associatable with such as a pet animal, the enclosing structure housing all of securely located battery-operated electronic circuitry including timer means, indicator means operative through the housing structure by the timer means after a pre-determined time interval unless reset meantime, and reset means operable through the casing at any time including during said interval.

In preferred embodiments, the time interval is long enough to span normal intervals between contact with the pet animal concerned, and can be up to two or three days, with resetting manually, normally each time the animal is seen, unless the animal does go missing. Operation of the indicator means can usefully be intermittent, preferably periodic, say using electronic control means1 which may have time constant setting means with an effective period measured in up to seconds or more, i.e. several orders of magnitude less than the overall time interval for operation. Such control means can further usefully have mark/space ratio setting for much loner OFF intervals than ON times.

Preferably the device is adapted to be attached to an animal by means, for example, of a collar. The device may be adapted to hang from a collar or could be integral with a collar. The indicator means may comprise a visual and/or audible indicator though only a visual indicator will be specifically described. A suitable visual indicator is a lamp, preferably a lamp adapted to flash.

The device may also afford identification marking or means for an animal.

One embodiment of the invention is now specifically described and illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figures 1A and 1B show respectively an internal plan view of a device embodying the invention, and a section of the device along the line A-A of Figure lA; and Figures 2 and 2A show full and detail variant circuit diagrams for the device of Figure 1.

In Figures IA and 1B, the portable alerting device 10 has a casing 22 of compact quite thick hollow disc shape formed as two deeply dished parts 12A and 123, which interfit in a substantially weather-proof and watertight way with substantially full-depth overlapping of their wallings in close juxtaposition. The wallings of the casing parts 12A, 123 are shown snap-fitting together, see full circumferential internal bead 21 and groove 22, but could be screwed together by mating threadings, or have other releasable interfitting, say of bayonet type, so that it may be opened to allow replacement of a battery 17.The casing 12 is further shown with a ring holder formation 13 shown integral with one of the casing parts (12B) to allow attachment of the device 10 to, for example, an animal collar.

The two parts 12A, 12B of the casing are formed to further cooperate in location of the battery 17, see inside gapped arcuate bottom rib 23 of casing part 12B, and in supporting and locating a printed circuit board (PCB) 14, see triangularly indented lug formations 24 of the casing part 12A to take three corners of substantially square PCB 14, preferably as a tight interference fit into the casing part 12A so as to be held removably but firmly therein when the casing parts are separated, typically prised apart from their snap-fitting.

The PCB 14 carries a resetting switch 18 conveniently of push-button type and a lamp 16 conveniently of tED type, along with integrated circuits (chips) and related discrete circuit components of electrical and electronic interoperative connection, see further in Figure 2 to be described below. The push-button switch 18 s conveniently operated by flexing of the casing part 12A, see circular thinning of that casing part 12A immediately adjacent the switch push-button. The lamp 16 protrudes through an aperture 25 in the casing part 12A and has weather/water protection for the interior of the casing 12 by way of deformable elastomeric apertured seal pad 26.

The switch 18 serves to reset a timer 15, conveniently a chip with related discrete capacitor (C1) and resistors (R1 - R3), to activate the lamp 16 only after a prescribed time interval from last resetting and via flash control circuitry 19, conveniently gates of a another chip and related discrete diode (D1), capacitor (C2) and resistors (R4 - R6). The circuitry of Figure 2, including lamp 16, is powered by the battery 17, conveniently of flat metal cased type, the PCE 14 being shown with a central contact 27 and an edge contact 28 extended therefrom. the latter (28) into the gap in the battery locating rib 23. The timer 15 re-setting by the push-button switch 8 means the set time period may be restarted at will from outside the casing by flexing thereof.The casing 12 can also be writable on or incorporate an identlficatlcn tag.

In the circuit diagram of Figure 2 for the printed circuit board 14, the timer 15 has a 24-stage CMOS integrated circuit frequency divider operative relative to a first time constant set by capacitor Cl and resistors R1 and R2. Resetting of the divider is achieved manually at will over resistor R3 by pressing the push-button of switch 18, preferably of a normally open or return-to-open type.

Figure 2 also shows flash control provision 19 deploying 2input NAND gates for Schmitt trigger action in conjunction with diode D1 and second time constant setting capacitor C2 and resistors R4 and RS, for energisation of the lamp 16 over resistor R6 with a well-defined preferably long mark/ space ratio.

The first time constant dependent on the capacitor Cl and resistors R1/R2 will be long, normally measured in many hours amounting to days to give a suitable interval to span non-worrying pet absences from home. The second time constant dependent on the capacitor C2 and resistors R4/RS will be of a very much smaller order of magnitude, say one second or so, and with a much shorter ON time than OFF interval.

In use the device 10 is attached by means of aperture 13 to a collar around the neck of an animal and the timer 15 re-set for the time period corresponding to the first time constant and the frequency divider action of the timer circuitry 15. Before the end of the period, the timer 15 can be reset again so that the set time period begins again. If at the end of the time period the reset button 18 has not been operated, the lamp 16 begins to flash. The flashing lamp 16 will be stopped by operating the reset switch 18.

;t is envisaged that the timer 15 will be set at manufacture for a prescribed time period, Such time periods can be different in different devices, perhaps identifiable by colour or some other characteristic, as may better fit in with habits of types of animal, even perhaps individual animals. For example, with a dog, it may be appropriate to have as short a time period as a few hours, say to end a little after next expectation of feeding.

With a cat, the time period might be much longer as cats may disappear for a day or two without being considered lost.

Such variation of time periods as set at manufacture could be in accordance with different values for the capacitor C1 and/or associated one or both of resistors R1 and R2 and/or which output is taken from the frequency divider. It would be likely unacceptably to raise unit costs for variations (as to capacitance or resistance or divider output) to be available to the user or even the supplier, though technically feasible, of course via variable value components and/or selectable electrical connections.

The circuit fragment of Figure 2A shows a variation that may well be preferred by a printed circuit board producer. It will also be appreciated that the illustrated use of a Quad 2-input NAND-gate integrated circuit is a matter on convenience and designer's preference. Indeed, there are myriad ways to embody suitable electronics for desired main interval timing and flash control, including doing so on a single integrated circuit, say of maskdetermined logic/function type. It would be equally readily achievable to have indication by means other than a LED (light emitting diode) or other lamp, for example additionally or alternatively audible, say of piezoelectric or other type.

When contact with the animal is made, the re-set button 18 is pressed thus restarting the time period. If the animal goes astray and the reset button 18 has not been pressed then the lamp 16 will begin to flash when the timer 15 reaches zero time, thus alerting people who see the animal that it has strayed.

Claims (12)

~CLBIMS

1. Pet-associatable and portable alerting device comprising an enclosing structure such as a casing that is associatable with such as a pet animal, the enclosing structure housing and locating all of required batteryoperated electrical and electronic circuitry/components including resettable timer means operative to set a predetermined time interval, indicator means operative through the housing structure by the timer means after said pre-determined time interval unless reset meantime, and reset means operable at any time including during said interval.

2. Device according to claim 1, wherein a said casing comprises two deeply dished parts releasably interfitting with side walling of one inside and in close juxtaposition with side walling of the other through inter-engaging formations of each in a substantially weather-tight and water-proof mutual relation of the two parts.

3. Device according to claim 2, wherein the side walling of the one part further has internal formations to serve in locating a printed circuit board in interference fitting relation with the one part.

4. Device according to claim 3, wherein the printed circuit board carries electronic circuitry including the re-settable timer means and flashing control means for intermittent operation of a lamp. and further carries contact terminals for a battery, a re-set switch having a push-button adjacent an area of the one part and operable by flexure of that area, and said lamp protruding through an aperture in the one part with a compressible elastomeric seal about the lamp between the one part and the printed circuit board.

S. Device according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the other part has internal locating formation for said battery, and is separable from the one part for access to the battery with the printed circuit board retained undisturbed in the one part.

6. Device according to any preceding claim, comprising time constant setting means for electronic said timer means and operative to set said predetermined time interval as a period of days.

7. Device according to any preceding claim, wherein electronic control means for the indicator means causes operation thereof only intermittently, and includes time constant setting means for periodic operation of the indicator mean with a period of seconds or less.

7. Device according to claim 7, wherein the control means further has mark/space ratio setting means defining much longer OFF intervals than ON times.

8. Device according to any preceding claim, wherein the indicator means is visual.

9. Device according to any preceding claim. attachable to an animal by attachment to a collar.

10. Device according to any preceding claim, wherein a said casing is writable upon for identification of associated animal.

11. Pet-associatable and portable alerting device comprising an enclosing casing comprising twO deeply dished parts releasably interfitting with side walling of one inside and in close juxtaposition with side walling of the other through inter-engaging formations of each in a substantially weather-tight and water-proof mutual relation of the two parts, the side walling of the one part further having internal formations to serve in locating a printed circuit board in interference fitting relation with the one part, the printed circuit board carrying all electronic circuitry of and for re-settable timer means operable after a predetermined time interval unless re-set and flashing control means for intermittent operation of a lamp, the printed circuit board further carrying contact terminals for a battery, a re-set switch having a push-button adjacent an area of the one part and operable by flexure of that area, and said lamp protruding through an aperture in the one part with a compressible elastomeric seal about the lamp between the one part and the printed circuit board; the other part having internal locating formation for said battery, and being separable from the one part for access to the battery with the printed circuit board retained undisturbed in the one part.

12. Pet-associatable and portable alerting device arranged and adapted to operate substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.