Conventional electronic collar-mounted receivers, automatic electronic stimulators, etc., provide remote/leash-free access to animals using communication via sound, vibration, and/or electronic stimulation at varying levels. Examples of these devices include remote animal-training collars, anti-bark collars, containment collars, hunting collars for dogs, that provide GPS/radio transmission, etc. The collar-mounted receivers/transmitters or electronically controlled collars presently available are typically encased in a hard plastic housing (usually box-shaped) with some sort of loop or tab, of plastic or metal to thread the collar through for attachment purposes. The components in a conventional receiver are stacked vertically to reduce surface area on the animal's neck. Because of the bulk of the device with two fixed contact points placed side by side, certain situations arise. First, gravity constantly pulls the box to its lowest position. This affects the effectiveness of the contact, because it either becomes loose, or pushes on the larynx of the dog, leading to discomfort. Because the housing has a propensity to fall to the same spot on the animal's body, there is often a rubbing that leads to necrosis, i.e. a blistering of the skin from constant friction at the same spot. Also, due to the horizontal fixed nature of the contacts on a large bulky housing, present day electronic animal collar receivers are difficult to use on small dogs. The large inflexible box does not wrap well around small necks, and this makes proper contact difficult. Additionally, there is minimal or no ability to customize output of the receiver. Stimulus levels are factory set on present day electronic animal collar-mounted receivers. For example, if level two is too low and level three is too strong, there is not much scope to adjust the level to something in between that can be customized for a particular animal. Moreover, the bulky receiver design is aesthetically compromising, and often leads to unwanted interrogation/curiosity, which may interfere with the psychological dynamics between the animal and the animal handler/owner, and/or between the handler/owner and other human beings, e.g. spectators
Transmitters used to communicate with the receivers are typically large and bulky as well with extending long antennae (several inches long). Transmitters are usually in the hand of the operator, worn around the neck with a lanyard, or put in a pocket.
What is needed is a better design of receiver and/or transmitter to obviate the known problems discussed above.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds