Multiplex communications – Communication techniques for information carried in plural... – Combining or distributing information via time channels
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-15
2002-12-10
Ton, Dang (Department: 2661)
Multiplex communications
Communication techniques for information carried in plural...
Combining or distributing information via time channels
Reexamination Certificate
active
06493363
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1.Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a system for monitoring a population of flying insect pests, especially throughout agricultural products storage volumes. It includes sensor units having automated counting insect electrocutor traps and associated count storage registers which are connected to a central computer through a tree type communications system utilizing a plurality of spatially distributed addressable multiplexing modules to access a specific register out of a large number of registers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Monitoring in agricultural contexts is becoming increasingly important for providing information about the status of stored-commodities and their environments. Stored-product insect pests, especially moths, are of great concern because they infest a broad range of commodities, such as dried fruits, nuts and packaged goods, leading to the loss of consumer confidence as well as product damage.
The state of the art in monitoring store-product moths is the use of pheromone baited traps. These traps must be manually inspected for numbers of insects caught which is labor intensive and results in infestation level data being updated infrequently. Electrocutors with ultraviolet lamps attached to attract insects are also sold for monitoring purposes, but they have the same shortcomings as pheromone traps as well as the difficulty of counting fragmented insects after electrocution. For accurate monitoring, each insect caught should only be counted once. With pheromone traps, the insect might fly around for awhile before and even after entering the trap, which can present a possibility for repeat counts. Furthermore, pheromone traps need to be serviced regularly to remove trapped insects and to replenish the pheromone.
The recommended placement for trapping flying insects is high off the ground which is inconvenient for trap inspection. Traps in remote storage bins can also be difficult to reach and can even present danger to the inspector.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,523 (Baima et al., '523) discloses a monitoring electrocutor trap which detects a discharge with a discharge detector connected to the trap which passes a signal to a transmitter which transmits it to a central receiver equipped with a discriminator for ignoring signals other than those from the transmitter and for passing the signals representing discharges to a pulse counter whereby a total of the number of insects trapped in a given time can be obtained at a central station without visiting each trap. The disclosed system further includes an astable circuit, which is interposed between the high voltage generator and a portable voltage source, such as an accumulator, operates to feed the high voltage generator from a battery at spaced intervals so as to lengthen the duration of the charge of the battery and therefore the duration of efficient operation of the device. The high voltage generator is capable of providing the high voltage even during those periods in which the astable circuit cuts off the supply from the battery. The signal transmitted to the central receiver can be a coded signal.
Monitoring is used to ascertain the efficacy of control measures, but some control methods, controlled atmospheres for example, are interrupted by or are inimical to trap inspectors.
In an integrated pest management system, the use of chemical treatments and other methods of insect control are dictated by the early and localized detection of infestations. Because of the physical distances involved in agricultural contexts, monitoring often involves inspecting many locations distributed over large areas. Automated monitoring systems involving computer acquisition of data from sensors distributed throughout stored-commodities eliminate the need for scheduling costly manual inspections and permits access to real-time data from all storage regions. These data can alert personnel to the need for control measures and can be input directly to expert management decision support systems. When electronic sensing is used, the practicality of monitoring is dictated by the economics of implementation. Often the major cost is not for the remote sensor hardware but rather is for the means of getting the data back into a computer at a central location. The direct approach of an individual cable for each sensor is physically unwieldy and economically impractical when hundreds or thousands of sensors are involved and the computer is thousands of feet away.
For example, W. J. Eradus discloses in
Intelligent Sensors and Agriculture
an “Agrinet” system where a master-slave relationship is set up between a computer and a plurality of sensors. The computer can poll every sensor to respond with measured data through a bus. However, Agrinet relies on the use of “intelligent sensors.” These sensors usually include microcomputers to provide multiplexing, signal processing and handling of communications. These “intelligent sensors” are relatively expensive due to their complexity and thus limits the amount of sensors feasible for any one system.
John E. Judd discloses in a
Sensor Highway A New Cost Effective Approach to Multiple Point Data Collections for Plant Machinery
, a “sensor highway” system for collecting data from multiple point data collection sites. A controller sends a proper address code down one of three available buses connecting and powering a chosen sensor. The operator may then collect the data of that sensor. The sensor outputs are wired to a transducer adapter module (or TAM) which monitors incoming coded address data, provides connection to the sensors and provides an isolated direct two wire line to pre-conditioned sensors. The TAM is connected to the main highway via a branch of the sensor highway via a T adaptor or a pressed-on insulation displacement connector. However, the sensors of the sensor highway are limited to 250 per line and require multiple buses, increasing the amount of wiring necessary for the system and increasing its complexity and cost.
W. G. Gensler discloses another typical measurement system in the agricultural environment
An Electrochemical Water System
. Electronic equipment in the field make a multiplexed measurement from a probe. The data is serialized and encoded before being transmitted by an antenna. Again, the complicated structure for the transmission of the data results in a costly system which limits the number of sensors economically feasible.
While various methods have been developed for monitoring and trapping insects, there remains a need in the art for a system for remote monitoring of pest infestations which also eliminate the pest. The present invention provides a remote system for automatically counting flying insects as it kills them for monitoring infestation in many locations over large areas which is different from prior art methods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a monitoring system for pest insects which automatically records data indicative of the insect population levels local to each of an array of sensor units distributed throughout an insect monitoring volume.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring system having at least one sensor unit which includes an insect electrocutor trap, a sense coil operatively connected to a high voltage generator which is connected to said insect electrocutor, a signal conditioning circuit and a digital count storage register wherein the circuit operatively connects the sense coil to the register.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a monitoring system having at least one sensor unit including an insect electrocutor trap and a digital register which is operatively connected in parallel to a digital transmission network and a central computer which reads the register.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a simple method and device for monitoring pest insects in many locations distributed over large areas having at least one sensor unit which includes an insec
Dagan Aharon
Shuman Dennis
Weaver David K.
Fado John D.
Poulos Gail E.
Silverstein M. Howard
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of
Ton Dang
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