GB2449930A - Pet animal tag which locates and identifies the animal remotely - Google Patents

Abstract

An improved tag for animals, in particular pet animals, comprises a GSM transmitting and receiving device (4), a matching network (6) and a Bluetooth antenna (5) connected to the GSM transmitting and receiving device (4) through the matching network (6). The invention aims to overcome the problem that prior art RFID tags only allow the identity of an already located animal to be confirmed. Missing animals cannot be located because of the short range of the RFID device. The current invention intends to provide an animal tag allowing the location of an animal to be remotely sensed, which is suitable for use by pet animals.

Description

Animal Tag This invention relates to an improved tag for animals, in

particular to an improved tag for pet animals.

A common problem with animals is identifying and locating specific individual animals.

This is a problem for all types of domestic animals. The problem has most commonly been considered and solutions proposed for farm or working animals in the past because of their obvious economic value and, in many countries, legal requirements that specific food animals be identifiable and traceable. However, this problem also applies to pet animals.

Pet owners usually have considerable emotional concern for the well being of their pets and develop strong emotional bonds with them, so that concern about the welfare of individual pet animals is generally much higher than for individual farm or working animals. Also, many types of pet animals, particularly breeds of cats and dogs, have a high financial value.

Further, pet animals are generally relatively small. This makes them harder to find if they are lost and more vulnerable to thefi Finally, the relatively small size of many pet animals makes the technical limitations, such as size and weight, applicable to devices for identifying and locating the animals more demanding.

One known approach to animal identification is to inject the animals with small RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags. Each tag is given a unique identifying number which is recorded in a database together with the corresponding animal identity so that animals can be identified using a suitable RFID scanner connected to the database. The RFID tags can be made small enough to be carried without ill effects even by small pet animals. This RFID based approach allows individual animals to be uniquely identified so that disputes regarding ownership, whether due to theft or misidentification, can be resolved. Further, when lost, injured or dead animals are found they can be identified and the owner informed.

However, a drawback of RFJD based approaches is that they only allow the identity of an already located animal to be confirmed. It is impractical to use RFID devices to locate missing animals because of the very short range at which the RFID device can be interrogated, and a response detected, by the scanner.

The present invention is intended to provide an animal tag allowing the location of an animal to be remotely sensed, which is suitable for use by pet animals.

In a first aspect, this invention provides an animal tag comprising a GSM transmitting and receiving device, a matching network and a Bluetooth antenna connected to the GSM transmitting and receiving device through the matching network.

The use of a Bluetooth antenna connected to the GSM transmitter/receiver through a matching network allows the size and weight of the tag to be reduced so that it is suitable to be carried by pet animals.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic figures, in which: Is Figure 1 shows a pet tag according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a schematic view of the components of the pet tag of figure 1; and, Figure 3 is a circuit diagram of a matching network used in the pet tag of figure 1.

An example of a pet tag I according to a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in figure 1. The pet tag I comprises a waterproof sealed casing 2 and a pair of projecting D shaped nngs 3 are located one on each side of the casing 2. The rings 3 are arranged so that a collar for a pet animal can pass through the rings 3, to secure the pet tag I to a pet collar (not shown).

A schematic view of the electrical components of the pet tag 1 is shown in figure 2.

The pet tag I comprises a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) compatible transmitting and receiving device 4 connected to a Bluetooth antenna 5 through an impedance matching network 6. The pet tag 1 further comprises a conventional SIM card 7 connected to the GSM transmitting and receiving device 4. All of these electrical components of the pet tag I are enclosed within the sealed casing, preventing damage to the pet tag by the ambient environment, particularly moisture.

The use of a Bluetooth antenna design having an omni-directional sensitivity pattern is preferred to ensure good reception arid transmission of signals regardless of the onentation of the pet tag 1 on a pet, or the orientation of the pet itself.

In operation, the pet tag I is able to receive and transmit signals from and to existing GSM networks, such as mobile phone networks, so that the location of pet tag 1 can be detected and tracked by the GSM network in the same way as other GSM devices, such as mobile telephones. As is conventional in GSM compatible devices, the SIM card 7 has a unique equipment identification number which allows the pet tag 1 to be uniquely identified so that its location can be unambiguously determined by the GSM network.

The use of a GSM compatible transmitting and receiving device 4 allows the pet tag I to be used with existing GSM networks such as mobile telephone networks. This allows the pet tag 1 to use existing network infrastructure. In general, it would be economically impractical to establish a dedicated national radio network purely to support the use of pet tag 1.

Although the capability of the pet tag 1 to be used with existing GSM networks is most important, this gives rise to the problem that known GSM antennas are relatively large. In particular, known GSM antennas generally require a ground plane having a relatively large area. As a result, if a conventional known GSM antenna was used in the pet tag, the pet tag, which must be sufficiently large to enclose the GSM antenna, would be too large to be readily carried by many pet animals without being unacceptably burdensome to the animal.

In particular, for a pet tag according to the preferred embodiment and including rings for attachment to an animal collar, if the pet tag were large enough to enclose a conventional known GSM antenna, the resulting pet tag would be so large that it would interfere with normal movement of a carrying pet animal. Further, there would be a high risk of collision of the pet tag with obstacles when the animal was moving, resulting in danger of both accidental damage to the tag due to impacts and harm to the animal if the tag becomes caught on an obstacle. As a result, a tag using a known conventional GSM antenna would not be acceptable to either pets or their owners.

The use of a Bluetooth compatible antenna 5, which is physically much smaller than a conventional GSM antenna, together with the matching network 6, allows the physical size of the pet tag 1 to be reduced whilst still keeping all of the electronic components including the antenna 5 filly enclosed within the sealed housing 2 of the pet tag 1.

As a result, the pet tag 1 can be made sufficiently small to be carried by a pet animal and in particular sufficiently small to be carried on the collar of a pet animal without interfering with normal movement of the animal. Further, the pet tag 1 can be made sufficiently small as to minimize the risk of impact damage to the pet tag 1 by collision with obstacles or the animal being tripped or trapped by the pet tag 1 catching on obstacles.

A circuit diagram of one example of a suitable matching network 6 is shown in detail in figure 3. The matching network 6 has a first terminal 6a connected to the Bluetooth antenna 5 and a second terminal 6b connected to the GSM transmitting and receiving device 4. The matching network 6 comprises a first impedance ZI connected between the first terminal 6a and earth, a second impedance Z2 connected between the first and second terminals 6a and 6b and a third impedance Z3 connected between the second terminal 6b and earth.

hi the preferred embodiment the pet tag 1 is adapted to operate with a GSM mobile phone network operating in the DCS band in the frequency range l710M}Iz to 1180 MHz, generally referred to as the 1800 MHz band, by using a GSM 1800 MHz band transmitting and receiving device 4 together with a Bluetooth antenna operating at 2.45GHz, connected through the matching network 6. In this embodiment suitable impedance values for the impedance network 6 are Zi, L=5.6nH; Z2, C=l.2 pF; Z3, L=3.3nH. These impedance values can be adjusted in order to provide good matching between different designs of Bluetooth antennae and GSM transmitting and receiving devices.

Preferably all of the electronic components of the pet tag, including the Bluetooth antenna, are arranged on a single PCB in order to simplify manufacture and assembly and reduce costs. In the preferred embodiment all of the electronic components are provided on a single rectangular PCB measuring 35mm by 32mm. The casing of pet tag I is formed just large enough to enclose this PCB. The exterior of the rectangular casing of the pet tag I is slightly larger because of the thickness of the casing. in the preferred embodiment, the casing of the pet tag 1 measures 42mm by 35mm and is 16mm thick. These dimensions do not include the rings 3, which are each 34mm by 9mm. The dimensions of the rings 3 can be adapted as necssary to cooperate with an animal collar.

In practice the pet tag I according to the invention has been found to provide good signal reception and transmission allowing the location of a pet carrying the pet tag I to be accurately determined by existing GSM mobile telephone networks using conventional mobile terminal locating techniques.

The pet tag I will require a suitable power source, which can conveniently be provided by a rechargeable battery. The battery and power supply connections are not shown in the figures for clarity. Many suitable battery and charging arrangements are known, so these will not be described in detail herein.

Preferably, the pet tag 1 includes a rechargeable battery together with a non-contact recharging connection such as an inductive battery charger, in order to allow the casing of pet tag I to be completely sealed without any vulnerable opening parts or cable connections which could allow moisture to enter the pet tag I. Preferably the pet tag 1 includes an LED which is illuminated to indicate proper operation of the electronic components. This will allow proper functioning of the pet tag to be easily visually confirmed.

As explained above, the GSM compatible pet tag I can have its location identified by a cooperating GSM network so that the network controller can provide location information regarding the pet tag I to a user. A number of ways of doing this are known and the means used can be selected from those supported by the GSM network to suit user requirements.

For example, the location of the pet tag I could be determined by the GSM network controller on request from the user and the location information sent to a user mobile telephone as a map. Other methods could also be used, as required.

Optionally, the pet tag I may include a sound generating device which can be remotely activated in order to assist in finding the tagged pet animal. When a user has travelled to the indicated location of the pet animal, if the animal caimot then be seen, the user could activate the sound generator to indicate the precise location of the pet animal.

When the pet tag I is adapted to cooperate with a GSM mobile telephone network, the sound generator can conveniently be activated by placing a call or sending an SMS message to the pet tag.

is In the embodiment described above the pet tag I is adapted for use with a GSM network operating at about 1800MHZ. It is possible to arrange for the pet tag to operate at other GSM frequency bands, for example the 900MHZ band, by suitable adjustment of the matching network.

The above description refers to the invention as a pet tag. This is intended to refer to the suitability of the tag for use by animals of the species commonly kept as domestic pets, which are generally relatively small. However the tag can be used by working animals of these species, for example assistance dogs, sniffer dogs, police dogs etc. which are not purely or primarily pets The described embodiment is a preferred embodiment and the above description is intended to be exemplary and not exhaustive. The person skilled in the art will be able to envisage changes which can be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the attached claims.

Claims (7)

1. Claims An animal tag comprising a GSM transmitting and receiving

   device, a matching network and a Bluetooth antenna connected to the GSM transmitting and receiving device through the matching network.
2. 2. An animal tag as claimed in claim I or claim 2, wherein the GSM transmitting and receiving device, the matching network and the Bluetooth antenna are all formed on a single PCB.
3. 3. An animal tag according to claim 1 or claim 2, and further comprising a casing enclosing the GSM transmitting and receiving device, the matching network and the Bluetooth antenna.
4. 4. An animal tag according to any preceding claim, and further comprising a rechargeable battery.
5. 5. An animal tag according to any preceding claim, and further compn sing attachment means mounted on the casing.
6. 6. An animal tag according to claim 5, wherein the attachment means are adapted to attach the tag to an animal collar.
7. 7. An animal tag substantially as shown in or as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.