Biological exclusion device

Abstract

To provide an organism exclusion device that controls the background noise in the installation environment and the sound pressure level of sound waves required for excluding animals, based on the behavior of animals, and enables sound emission at a minimum sound pressure level. [Solution] The organism exclusion device has an exterior part with an opening formed on the underside, a reflector that is freely movable below the opening in the exterior part via a fixing device and reflects sound radiation at a predetermined angle, a direct sound emission speaker that is installed on the side of the exterior part and emits sound directly at the organisms to be excluded, an indirect sound emission speaker that is installed inside the exterior part and emits sound indirectly at the organisms to be excluded via the reflector, and an ultrasonic speaker stage that is composed of multiple airborne acoustic wave elements installed on a substrate inside the exterior part and emits sound indirectly at the organisms to be excluded via the reflector.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a living creature exclusion device (hereinafter simply referred to as the device) that uses sound to exclude animals, including birds and mammals, particularly wild animals (hereinafter also referred to as "organisms to be excluded"), from areas where you do not want them to approach. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, "living thing exclusion devices" have been disclosed that target wild animals such as insects such as cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies, and stink bugs, small animals such as mice, and birds such as crows and starlings. In the following explanation, "exclusion" includes "extermination," "avoidance," and "avoidance."

[0003] In recent years, dogs, cats, and other non-native animals that were originally kept as pets have become feral and are now invading human habitats, invading our living environments. In addition to these creatures, wild animals that originally lived in the mountains and fields, such as bears, deer, wild boars, and monkeys, are also now invading human habitats.

[0004] Generally, wild animals that enter human habitats are considered "harmful animals" and are often eliminated by being captured or shot. However, in reality, the damage caused by harmful animals has not decreased. In particular, it is difficult to say that effective measures are being taken to eliminate wild animals that originally lived in the mountains and fields. On the other hand, even among biological exclusion devices intended to repel wild animals, there are currently no devices that can effectively repel wild animals. In other words, the issue of wildlife elimination has become a major challenge in certain communities.

[0005] One of the conventional organism exclusion devices is disclosed to be equipped with an electroacoustic transducer (speaker) that periodically changes signals in different ultrasonic bands and emits them into the air. Electric fences are also often used to prevent the intrusion of organisms themselves.

[0006] As a device equipped with a speaker, a pest control device using ultrasonic waves has been proposed, which is characterized in that it comprises "a plurality of ultrasonic transmitters each having a different frequency band, and a drive circuit that drives each of the ultrasonic transmitters separately, selects one drive mode from a plurality of predetermined drive modes, and has a control unit that controls the drive circuit based on the drive mode, and in that at least one ultrasonic transmitter is selected randomly from the plurality of ultrasonic transmitters for each of the modes, and has a random band that randomly controls the drive frequency and drive time of the drive circuit" (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0007] In Patent Document 1, an ultrasonic signal is emitted according to a time and cycle preprogrammed in a memory device such as an IC mounted on a product equipped with a transmitter, and signal processing is performed to prevent the subject to which the sound emission is presented from becoming accustomed to the sound. Also, the sound emitted from the ultrasonic transmitter can be emitted linearly in the direction the transmitter is facing, so it is possible to emit sound directly at harmful animals in front of the emitter.

[0008] One example of harmful animals is "birds," which are often requested to be removed by various industries. In recent years, crows and starlings have been targeted as "birds." Of these, crows are known to be highly intelligent among "birds," and specialized research has shown that crows are also skilled at communicating with other crows.

[0009] Furthermore, in recent years, there have been many reports of mammals, including invasive species such as bears, raccoon dogs, deer, and monkeys, causing damage to crops by eating them, as well as direct damage such as attacks on humans. The reasons for this include the development of fields and mountains and the transformation into residential areas, as well as the poor disposal methods of food waste in residential areas, which means that animals can easily find food, causing them to come down from the fields and mountains into residential areas.

[0010] Another factor behind this is the fact that humans are approaching the fields and mountains where wild animals naturally live. When the distance between wild animals and humans becomes too close, sound to scare animals away becomes too loud for humans, making it difficult to use sound to scare animals away. Current methods of using sound to repel animals aim to scare animals by emitting high sound pressure levels regardless of the frequency band, but it is also true that sound emitted at these high sound pressure levels can also cause harm to humans.

[0011] Some conventional biological exclusion devices use the sounds of animals to be excluded (such as crows), emitting the sounds of crows from a speaker at a high sound pressure level to directly expose the crows to the sounds, causing them to take evasive action. In addition to exposing living things, including birds, to sound radiation at a high sound pressure level from a speaker, ultrasonic frequencies have also been presented indirectly or directly (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0012] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-107893 (e.g., pages 2 and 3) [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 5135507 (e.g., Example 1) [Patent Document 3] Patent No. 6139395 (e.g., Example 1) [Patent Document 4] Patent No. 6072149 (e.g., Example 1) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0013] Looking at animal behavior, we can see that they are approaching human living spaces, but animals rarely approach humans willingly, like pets. Rather, the basic behavior of wild animals is to constantly detect human behavior with their keen hearing and sense of smell, and to act in a way that avoids humans, and this is the basis of ethology.

[0014] In particular, their hearing and sense of smell are several hundred times more powerful than those of humans. With regard to hearing, they can hear up to nearly 100 kHz in the audible frequency range, and experimental verification has confirmed that when the minimum sound pressure level is increased by +3 dB or more from an environment where no sound can be heard (an environment with very low background noise, such as 0-10 dB), a movement in response to the change in sound definitely occurs.

[0015] The reason for this is that even if the background noise is 50 dB, for example, and a change of +3 dB occurs in any frequency band for an animal, the animal is able to perceive the change in sound as a discriminative amount (partial results of acoustic measurement experiments were reported at the 2021 Spring Research Presentation of the Acoustical Society of Japan: "Low-Noise Hair Collection Method for Cats"). In other words, it is known that if any sound wave that an animal finds unpleasant arrives in the background noise at a level just 3 dB higher than the background noise, the animal will be able to discriminate it and will take action such as moving in response to the unpleasant sound. This discrimination source has little dependency on the frequency band and corresponds to a wide range of frequencies, from low to high. This is completely different from the discrimination source in humans, and it is clear that animals have a very high discrimination ability.

[0016] Conventional outdoor sound-based animal exclusion devices are designed to emit high sound pressure levels due to concerns about background noise in the environment. However, many wild animals that need to be excluded, i.e., most animals that are afraid of humans, tend to be active at night when humans are asleep. If sound waves for exclusion are emitted at the same sound pressure level as during the day at night when background noise is lower, these wild animals will perceive the sound as noise to humans and other non-animal species.

[0017] In other words, at night in suburban areas where wild animals dominate, it is easy to see that in order to avoid scary humans, animals of a different species, or even animals of the same species in "territorial disputes," the hearing of such wild animals is highly refined and they can hear sounds at sound pressure levels lower than the background noise of suburban areas at night (for example, below 20 dB).

[0018] From this, it can be said that by taking advantage of animal behavior, if the sound pressure level of the sound waves emitted from the animal exclusion sound device can be emitted at a very low sound pressure level that animals can hear, it will be sufficient to exclude animals.Of course, there may be situations where the background noise during the day is high, so in such cases it is important to measure the background noise outdoors and automatically increase the sound pressure level so that sound can be emitted at a higher sound pressure level than the background noise (ideally +3dB so that animals can separate sounds) so that it can also deal with daytime background noise.

[0019] In light of the above, it is desirable to provide an organism exclusion device that automatically or manually detects the sound pressure level of background noise during the day and night (predicted level in the case of manual detection), and emits a sound pressure level for excluding animals that is approximately +3 dB higher than the background noise.

[0020] Since there are many animals that can hear frequencies up to the ultrasonic band, the technology described in Patent Document 1 can have an exclusion effect for a certain period of time by exposing the animals to sound radiation in the ultrasonic band.

[0021] However, there were problems with this method, such as the fact that it did not have a significant effect on target species such as crows, which use a frequency band equivalent to the human audible frequency range (below 20 kHz) as a means of communication rather than acoustic signals in the ultrasonic band. Furthermore, even if the oscillation frequency of the ultrasonic signal is changed, it still changes at a constant rhythm, so there is also the problem that after a certain amount of exposure, the organisms to be eliminated will become "accustomed" to the sound itself.

[0022] The technology described in Patent Document 2 places importance on ensuring that the target organisms can hear the acoustic signals necessary for exclusion, etc. To achieve this, the speaker emits an acoustic signal at a sound pressure level equal to or greater than the voice of the target organisms. As a result, the speaker used to emit the sound emits a loud sound at a sound pressure level equal to or greater than the voice of the target organisms, regardless of whether it is night or day. Therefore, the audio signals necessary to eliminate the target organisms are emitted around the installation environment of the organism exclusion device, and surrounding residents are equally exposed to the sound, causing the problem of "noise" caused by the installation environment.

[0023] In the technology described in Patent Document 3, an ultrasonic signal of around 20 kHz to 32 kHz is used to radiate sound forward from a radiator, and the ultrasonic signal is propagated through the air by also utilizing the reflection of the radiated sound. However, the means for radiating the ultrasonic signal is an electro-acoustic converter, that is, a general electrodynamic speaker that can also reproduce high-frequency bands, and because a speaker (also abbreviated as tweeter) that handles the high-frequency band for general audio is used, the sound pressure level radiated from this speaker is attenuated in decibels in proportion to the logarithm of the distance, in accordance with the fundamental principles of acoustic theory (distance x 2 = -6 dB).

[0024] Therefore, even if sound radiation can be presented to animals near the emitter, it is not possible to present high sound pressure levels to animals at a distance. Furthermore, the area that needs to be excluded is limited to a small area, and since it is not known from where the organisms will invade and there are various sizes of animals, it is not possible to present sound radiation to a wide variety of organisms. As a result, the area in which sound radiation can be performed is narrow, leading to problems such as organisms entering the area that needs to be excluded.

[0025] Furthermore, since the directionality of sound emitted from such speakers is narrow in principle (in relation to wavelength), the areas that require exclusion are limited, which means that the problem of animals entering the exclusion area cannot be solved. Furthermore, even if a means for reflecting the sound radiation from such a speaker is used to transmit the sound, the general ultrasonic signal radiation having a linear acoustic signal alone causes acoustic attenuation due to the vibration conversion of the sound waves at the reflection part that causes the reflection, resulting in the problem that the radiated sound cannot be propagated.

[0026] Patent Document 4 is based on a parametric speaker system that propagates audible sound superimposed on a 40 kHz carrier wave. Because this speaker uses frequencies in the ultrasonic band, it is generally highly directional and has excellent linearity in one direction. However, because sound is emitted in a narrow beam in only one direction and a high sound pressure level must be ensured to radiate sound to organisms located far away in one direction, the radiator itself requires a large number of ultrasonic elements, resulting in a very costly sound emission device configuration. Furthermore, the high directivity in one direction has the disadvantage that the speaker sound cannot be heard by animals located off the speaker axis, making it difficult to present sound to many animals simultaneously.

[0027] Furthermore, due to its high directivity, when applied to a wide range of animals, including animals of various sizes and physical conditions, and when it comes to intrusion from various directions, the acoustic characteristics of the parametric speaker itself affect it, making installation conditions difficult.

[0028] This invention was made with the above-mentioned problem in mind, and aims to provide an organism exclusion device that controls the background noise in the installation environment and the sound pressure level of the sound waves required to exclude animals, based on the behavior of the animals to be excluded, thereby enabling sound emission at the minimum sound pressure level. [Means for solving the problem]

[0029] In order to solve the above problems, the organism exclusion device of the present invention is a organism exclusion device that eliminates organisms to be excluded, and is configured to have an exterior part with an opening formed on its underside, a reflector that is freely movable below the opening of the exterior part via a fixing device and reflects sound radiation at a predetermined angle (up to 360 degrees in all directions), a direct sound emission speaker that is installed on the side of the exterior part and emits sound directly at the organisms to be excluded, an indirect sound emission speaker that is installed inside the exterior part and emits sound indirectly at the organisms to be excluded via the reflector, and an ultrasonic speaker stage that is composed of a plurality of airborne ultrasonic elements installed on a substrate inside the exterior part and emits sound indirectly at the organisms to be excluded via the reflector.

[0030] With this configuration, it is possible to directly or indirectly appeal to the instincts of animals and "eliminate / avoid" harmful animals at a distance from the space where they should be eliminated.

[0031] In the living organism exclusion device of the present invention, the indirect sound emission speaker can be configured to be installed in a position where the sound emission from the indirect sound emission speaker does not overlap with the sound emission from the ultrasonic speaker stage.

[0032] With this configuration, sound radiation from the indirect sound radiation speaker and sound radiation from the ultrasonic speaker stage are not interfered with each other.

[0033] The biological exclusion device of the present invention can be configured to include a control unit that controls the driving of the direct sound emission speaker, the indirect sound emission speaker, and the ultrasonic speaker stage, and the control unit executes sound emission in the audible frequency band and the high frequency band from the direct sound emission speaker and the indirect sound emission speaker simultaneously with or with a time lag from sound emission from the ultrasonic speaker stage.

[0034] With this configuration, sound can be emitted at a minimum sound pressure level, so only the minimum necessary power is required. Furthermore, using a minimum sound pressure level can also solve the noise problem.

[0035] In the organism exclusion device of the present invention, the control unit can be configured to randomly play back sound emissions in the audible frequency band and high frequency band at a sound pressure level that can be heard by the organisms to be excluded.

[0036] With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the creatures to be excluded from becoming accustomed to the sound.

[0037] In the biological exclusion device of the present invention, the control unit can be configured to control the sound emission time from the ultrasonic speaker to a maximum of 5 seconds, and the sound emission time from the direct sound emission speaker and the indirect sound emission speaker to a maximum of 3 minutes.

[0038] This configuration can reduce power consumption, extend the life of the device and sound emitting elements, and enable the elimination of target organisms over a long period of time.

[0039] In the organism exclusion device according to the present invention, a configuration can be adopted in which a plurality of the exterior parts are stacked one on top of the other via the fixing devices.

[0040] With this configuration, it is possible to provide a living organism removal device that can be used for a variety of purposes without requiring a complex configuration. [Effects of the Invention]

[0041] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a living organism elimination device that can exert an elimination effect by emitting sound alone. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0042] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic view showing the appearance of a living organism exclusion device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] 1 is a schematic internal view showing the internal configuration of a living organism exclusion device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 3]FIG. 2 is a schematic bottom view showing the state of a living organism removal device according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from below. [Figure 4] 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the angle between the substrate and the reflector of the ultrasonic speaker stage of the organism exclusion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 5] 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the angle between the substrate and the reflector of the ultrasonic speaker stage of the organism exclusion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 6] 10 is a graph for explaining a reproduction band shown in frequency characteristics. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the measurement results of the directivity of sound radiation. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the measurement results of the directivity of sound radiation. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the configuration of a living organism exclusion device according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0043] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the size relationships of the components in the following drawings, including FIG. 1, may differ from those in reality. In addition, in the following drawings, including FIG. 1, the same reference numerals denote the same or equivalent components, and this applies throughout the entire specification. Furthermore, the forms of the components shown throughout the specification are merely examples and are not limited to these descriptions.

[0044] Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic external view showing the appearance of a living organism exclusion device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic internal view showing the internal configuration of the living organism exclusion device 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic bottom view showing the state of the living organism exclusion device 1 as viewed from below. The configuration of the living organism exclusion device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. The basic internal configuration of the living organism exclusion device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

[0045] The organism elimination device 1 is configured to expose organisms to be eliminated that are outside the device to sound superimposed with ultrasound and sound from a speaker, either singly or simultaneously. The living organism exclusion device 1 has an exterior part 2 and a motion detection sensor 3. The exterior part 2 is made of any material and forms the outer shell of the living organism exclusion device 1. The motion detection sensor 3 detects the movement of living organisms (including organisms to be excluded) present outside the living organism exclusion device 1, and multiple motion detection sensors 3 are provided around the exterior part 2.

[0046] It should be noted that although the exterior part 2 in this drawing is rectangular (rectangular), the exterior shape is not limited to rectangular, and the same exclusion effect can be achieved with cylindrical or polygonal structures. Furthermore, the number of motion detection sensors 3 to be installed is not particularly limited, but it is recommended to install a number that can detect a wide area around the organism exclusion device 1. For example, if the exterior part 2 is rectangular, it is recommended to install one motion detection sensor 3 on each of the four faces.

[0047] A charging panel 4 is installed on the upper surface of the exterior part 2 to secure a power source for driving the organism exclusion device 1. The charging panel 4 is a solar panel that is irradiated with sunlight during the daytime and serves to charge a storage battery (not shown) installed inside the organism exclusion device 1 through heat-to-electricity conversion.

[0048] The exterior 2 is fixed by a fixing device 5 of any length. The fixing device 5 is inserted into the exterior 2 so as to penetrate the center of the exterior 2 in the vertical direction, thereby fixing the exterior 2. The fixing device 5 being inserted into the exterior 2 means that the upper and lower ends of the fixing device 5 are installed so as to protrude from the upper and lower surfaces of the exterior 2. The charging panel 4 is attached to one end 11 (upper end) of the fixing device 5. In addition to charging, the organism exclusion device 1 can be driven directly from an external power source, either DC or AC.

[0049] The underside 6 of the exterior part 2 is open. The open portion is called an opening 7. Sound is radiated from various sound radiating means housed in the exterior part 2 to the outside of the exterior part 2 via the opening 7.

[0050] A reflector 8 is installed below the opening 7 of the exterior part 2. The number of reflectors 8 is the same as the number of substrates 35 described below. The reflector 8 is movably attached to the fixture 5 with one end serving as a support 9. The reflector 8 can be moved up and down using the support 9 as a fulcrum, from 0 degrees to block the opening 7, up to a maximum of 45 degrees downward. When the angle of the reflector 8 is 0 degrees, it blocks the opening 7, so measures can be taken to prevent insects from entering the interior of the exterior part 2 and tampering during times when the organism exclusion device 1 does not need to be used (for example, winter when animals are less active). This makes it possible to prevent unintended damage to the organism exclusion device 1. The angle of the reflector 8 is not limited to 0 degrees to 45 degrees, and some deviation is acceptable.

[0051] The other end 12 (lower end) of the fixture 5 is fixed to the base 10. The base 10 serves as a support for the organism removal device 1 and is installed outdoors, for example. The end 12 is the end opposite the upper end where the charging panel 4 is attached, and is provided with a screw socket (not shown) that can accept inch screws, so that, for example, various commercially available tripods (not shown) can be attached. Furthermore, it is possible to connect multiple fixtures 5. In this way, multiple organism removal devices 1 can be used stacked one on top of the other (described in other embodiments).

[0052] 2, one or more direct sound emission speakers 20 are provided inside the exterior part 2. The direct sound emission speakers 20 are directly fixed and installed at positions that do not overlap with the motion detection sensors 3. Furthermore, one or more indirect sound radiation speakers 21 are provided inside the exterior part 2. Unlike the direct sound radiation speakers 20, the indirect sound radiation speakers 21 are installed inside the exterior part 2 facing the opening 7.

[0053] An ultrasonic speaker stage 25 is also installed inside the exterior part 2. The ultrasonic speaker stage 25 is configured by fixing a plurality of airborne ultrasonic elements 26 to a substrate 35 in a state where they are closely spaced. By resonating the plurality of airborne ultrasonic elements 26 simultaneously and under the same phase condition, it is possible to oscillate a frequency in a single ultrasonic band (for example, 40 kHz). By oscillating the airborne ultrasonic elements 26 in this way, vibration-sound radiation conversion is performed, and the drive frequency of the airborne ultrasonic waves (for example, 40 kHz) is radiated as radiated sound.

[0054] This drive frequency passes through two frequency oscillation circuits. For example, if a drive signal of 40 kHz, which is the original drive frequency of the airborne ultrasonic element 26, and a drive signal with a drive frequency of around 43 kHz are transmitted, the main oscillation frequency of 40 kHz, which has a large sound pressure level, will simultaneously generate a secondary oscillation frequency of 43 kHz, which has a sound pressure level reduced by around 3 to 6 dB, indicating that sound waves modulated by the two frequencies are propagated.

[0055] The mixture of these two frequencies generates a sum-difference phenomenon specific to ultrasound in the air. The differential signal has a frequency range of 0 Hz to 3 kHz, and this frequency range is used to add audio in the audible range to the ultrasonic oscillator circuit. The differential signal generates an acoustic signal with fluctuations from 0 to 3 kHz, and this fluctuation component becomes a frequency in the audible frequency range and is superimposed on the ultrasonic signal before being transmitted through the air.

[0056] On the axis of the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 equipped with a plurality of airborne ultrasonic elements 26, the ultrasonic signal and the audible sound superimposed on the ultrasonic signal propagate through space at the same time, but when the signal collides with any location at its destination, the modulated wave is demodulated. When demodulated, both the ultrasonic wave and the audible sound wave exist as sound, but because humans cannot hear ultrasonic waves above 20 kHz, only the audible sound waves are heard, and in terms of auditory phenomena, it sounds as if the audible sound has been propagated to a distant location via ultrasonic waves.

[0057] The ultrasonic speaker stage 25 operates as described above, and operates as a well-known acoustic phenomenon generally called a parametric speaker.

[0058] However, while humans can only hear sounds in the audible range, animals can also hear the ultrasonic signals used as carrier waves. In other words, animals can simultaneously hear ultrasonic signals in addition to sounds in the audible range for humans. Therefore, animals are simultaneously exposed to sounds in a wide frequency range, and since the sounds propagate to animals from a distance, when the sound waves from the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 hit an animal, the animal itself undergoes sound conversion through a demodulation phenomenon, and sound is generated in the animal's body, creating the illusion that the sound is coming from the animal's body itself.

[0059] Audible sounds include deterrent sounds that animals emit when they sense danger, and audible sounds that are used to scare animals (for example, transient sounds such as blasting or impact sounds). Exposing animals to these sounds is effective in repelling them. Furthermore, wild animals naturally have hearing that is superior to that of humans because they dislike humans, so by using sounds such as human voices or screams, when the transported sounds are demodulated, the animals will be fooled into thinking that a human is nearby, causing them to panic and flee from the scene. The sound may be the original sound of the creature to be eliminated or a pseudo sound that uses characteristic acoustic characteristics of the original sound.

[0060] Furthermore, taking advantage of the fact that wild animals have better hearing than humans, it is possible to achieve sufficient elimination effects with low sound pressure levels in places with low background noise, such as at night or in suburban areas. Experimental results have shown that a sound pressure level difference of around 3dB between background noise and audible sound is sufficient, and since background noise is 20dB or less at night in suburban areas where many animals live, it is sufficient to generate sound waves in the audible range at around 23dB, eliminating the need for unnecessary amplifier output circuits.

[0061] In addition, in order to artificially make the presence of humans known, in addition to the sound wave generation by the ultrasonic speaker stage 25, the direct sound emission speaker 20 and the indirect sound emission speaker 21 can be used to emit sound to repel animals. One or more direct sound emitting speakers 20 are installed on the side of the exterior part 2, and the indirect sound emitting speaker 21 is installed inside the exterior part 2 facing the opening 7. By driving each speaker individually or in combination, it is possible to radiate sound individually or simultaneously. The indirect sound radiation speaker 21 is installed on the rear side of the substrate 35 of the ultrasonic speaker stage 25, and does not interfere with the acoustic radiation phenomenon of the ultrasonic speaker stage 25.

[0062] The substrate 35 has a trapezoidal shape in a plan view. As shown in Fig. 3, if the exterior part 2 is rectangular, four of them can be installed with their shorter sides facing each other. This installation makes it possible for the exterior part 2 of one organism exclusion device 1 to radiate sound in four directions around the entire circumference of the exterior part 2. In other words, the sound emitted from the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 exits the exterior part 2 through the opening 7, is reflected by the reflector 8, and is directed in each of the four directions around the entire circumference of the exterior part 2.

[0063] Furthermore, depending on the installation environment of the organism exclusion device 1, it may not be necessary to radiate sound in four directions. For example, if the exterior part 2 is fixed to a wall or the like, it is possible to remove the emitting speakers on the wall side and install speakers in only three directions. In other words, the number of speakers to install can be selected according to the installation environment of the organism exclusion device 1. A reflector 8 is installed in the opening 7 to reflect the sound radiation, and the sound from the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 and the indirect sound radiation speaker 21 is reflected by the reflector 8 and radiated outside the exterior part 2. Note that there is a sound radiation opening 50 between the opening 7 and the reflector 8.

[0064] A control unit 100 is installed inside the exterior part 2 to ensure proper operation of the organism exclusion device 1. The control unit 100 controls the drive conditions of the various speakers, the playback procedures for the sounds required to drive the various speakers and eliminate organisms, processes the sensing results associated with animal movement detected by the motion detection sensor 3, manages the power supply, and also controls the playback sound pressure associated with the measurement results of external background noise by the MEMS microphone 102 provided on the substrate 35 of the ultrasonic speaker stage 25. The control unit 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), etc., and executes various controls according to various programs stored in the ROM or a storage unit (not shown).

[0065] The motion detection sensors 3 detect animal movement and are individually provided on up to four surfaces of the exterior part 2. The motion detection sensors 3 should have a wide detection range of 30 degrees in both the horizontal and vertical directions, with 0 degrees on the axis as the boundary. For example, a motion detection sensor 3 based on infrared or pyroelectric sensing means can be used. The detection distance of the motion detection sensors 3 should be approximately 30 meters in places with good visibility.

[0066] In the biological exclusion device 1, the ultrasonic speaker 25 emits sound for a maximum of about five seconds, while the audible / high-frequency speaker emits sound for a maximum of three minutes, as the basic initial settings. To simulate the presence of a human, measures are taken to extend the sound emitted from the speaker in the audible frequency range. Since many believe that animals can hear up to high frequencies, measures can be taken to first emit only ultrasonic sounds upon sensor detection to confirm animal behavior. Some animals, such as wild boars, have been known to dislike high-frequency sounds above 5 kHz, which are generated when stones rub against each other. Therefore, depending on the type of animal, high-frequency sound alone may be sufficient to eliminate them.

[0067] The sound emitted from the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 needs to be emitted efficiently depending on the size of the target animal, i.e., the range of the environment to be excluded. For example, when wide emission is desired or for tall animals (such as deer), there are cases where it is desired to widen the propagation range of the sound emitted from the ultrasonic speaker stage 25. When sound propagates through the air, it is reflected at an angle of 90 degrees between the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection, just like light.

[0068] 4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the angle between the substrate 35 of the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 and the reflector 8 of the organism exclusion device 1. As shown in Fig. 4, when the substrate 35 of the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 is parallel to the opening 7, the sound from the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 is reflected by the reflector 8 in a 45-degree direction, and the radiated sound can be reflected and radiated from the opening 7 without attenuation. In other words, the vibration sound of each airborne ultrasonic element 26 of the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 can be radiated linearly from the sound radiating opening 50 via the reflector 8.

[0069] Here, the substrate length L1 and the opening length L2 are approximately the same length, and the reflector 8 has a length (reflector length) L3 that allows the radiated sound from the airborne ultrasonic element 26 on the outer surface side of the exterior part 2 of the substrate to be reliably propagated when opened at 45 degrees, and the end 53 of the reflector 8 is preferably formed with a dimensional length that is in the same positional relationship as the outer surface 56 of the exterior part 2.

[0070] If the reflector 8 is exposed on the outer surface of the exterior part 2, problems such as snow accumulation can create obstacles on the reflector 8, hindering sound radiation. Therefore, the length is set so as to avoid such problems. Note that while Fig. 4 shows that sound from the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 can be propagated over a relatively wide range, if an angle is provided to the substrate 35 as shown in Fig. 5, it becomes possible to narrow down the sound from the ultrasonic waves and propagate it, thereby realizing a beam-converging sound propagation means that presents sound in a concentrated manner.

[0071] In the case of broadband propagation in Figure 4, the sound pressure level decreases due to distance attenuation when the sound waves from each airborne ultrasonic element 26 propagate through the air, so the exposure range is expanded, but the ultrasonic waves, which act as carrier waves, are more likely to experience distance attenuation when propagating through the air. When propagating the elimination sound over a longer distance, it is necessary to converge the ultrasonic waves so that they do not spread, in order to prevent distance attenuation from occurring. One way to achieve this is to configure the board 35 on which the airborne ultrasonic elements 26 are mounted, as shown in Figure 5, with multiple boards like strip-shaped boards 60, and to arbitrarily swing the installation angle of each board 35, and adjust the board angle so that the sound waves from the airborne ultrasonic elements 26 mounted on each board 35 are refracted / reflected at 45 degrees to the reflector 8.

[0072] This allows the sound waves from the ultrasonic waves to be focused, which can result in longer distance attenuation when propagating through the air than with wideband carriers.

[0073] The reflector 8 also reflects sound from the indirect sound radiation speaker 21 inside the exterior part 2, propagating the sound to the outside of the exterior part 2. The effect of the reflector 8, which is open at 45 degrees, allows the sound from the indirect sound radiation speaker 21 to propagate to the outside of the exterior part 2. The indirect sound radiation speaker 21 and the direct sound radiation speaker 20 radiate sounds that indicate the presence of humans or that animals dislike, and radiate at a level approximately +3 dB above background noise.

[0074] However, the indirect sound radiation speaker 21 and the direct sound radiation speaker 20 are general electroacoustic conversion speakers, and the sound level attenuates at 6 dB per meter (-6 dB at twice the distance). Therefore, the propagation distance of the radiated sound is shorter than that of the ultrasonic speaker stage 25. Therefore, when the position to be eliminated is set at a distant location, sound radiation from the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 is effective, but the indirect sound radiation speaker 21 and the direct sound radiation speaker 20 have difficulty propagating sound to distant locations, but they still function to alert people to the presence of a human being (as will be explained in FIG. 6).

[0075] 6 is a graph for explaining the reproduction band shown in the frequency characteristics. The measurement position in FIG. 6 is a position 5 m away from the exterior part 2, and the analysis result of the frequency characteristics is shown. In FIG. 6, the following three characteristics are shown: - The playback range of the audible speaker and the high frequency speaker, - Wideband parametric speakers and beam-converging speakers · Main and secondary oscillation frequencies of the ultrasonic element itself

[0076] As shown in FIG. 6, it can be seen that the indirect sound radiating speaker 21 and the direct sound radiating speaker 20 have wide reproduction bands of 200 Hz to 5 kHz and 5 kHz to 70 kHz or more. The high frequency speaker generates ultrasonic sounds that cannot be perceived by humans but can be perceived by animals, and is one of the exclusion sounds that are randomly played back in the memory unit of the control unit 100 provided in the exterior unit 2. Because it can play back a wide frequency band, it can reliably play back sounds associated with human daily life and threatening sounds with a variety of frequency characteristics.

[0077] The sound reproduced from this speaker can give animals the auditory illusion that a human is nearby, so in suburban areas at night where background noise is low, animals that move around at night can be made to believe that a human is nearby / not asleep. This can discourage animals from taking actions such as approaching the direction of the sound. Furthermore, because background noise is low in suburban areas at night, even if the sound is reproduced from the speaker at a low sound pressure level, as long as the sound reproduced covers a wide frequency range, it can be an effective means of audio communication for animals with excellent hearing.

[0078] As shown in Figure 6, the playback bands of wideband parametric speakers and beam-converging speakers are wide, but the playback band of a parametric speaker is only a narrow band of around 800Hz to 3kHz. Because a parametric speaker uses modulation as a means of reproducing sound, which results in a narrow frequency band, if animals have the same hearing ability as humans, it can be considered that frequencies around 1kHz are easiest to hear, and assuming that easy to hear = can definitely be heard, the frequency characteristics of the rejection sound are configured to match so that it outputs frequencies in the 800Hz to 3kHz band.

[0079] 7 and 8 are explanatory diagrams that schematically show the measurement results of the directivity of sound radiation. Figs. 7 and 8 show the results of a characteristic analysis when the direction of the sound radiation opening 50 is changed. These characteristics are the results of measuring the directional characteristics 5 m away when a single sound of 1 kHz is reproduced. Note that a single frequency of 20 kHz was used to measure the characteristics of the high-frequency speaker. Note that Fig. 7 shows the measurement results of the directional characteristics propagating in the left-right direction of the center of the longitudinal direction of the opening 7. Fig. 8 shows the directional characteristics of sound propagation in the up-down direction of the opening 7.

[0080] 7 and 8, it can be seen that sound propagation in the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 is linear within the range of the surface length of the opening surface of the opening 7. However, it can also be seen that the sense of spread of the sound waves differs depending on the convergence conditions of the sound waves, and that the sound pressure level for wide bands is low. On the other hand, it can be seen that the sound from the indirect sound emitting speaker 21 and the direct sound emitting speaker 20 propagates through the air with a wide directivity with the opening 7 as the boundary.

[0081] When comparing speakers, high frequency speakers = the air vibration force of the speaker's diaphragm is weak in the high frequency band, so even though the same speaker is used, the sound pressure level will inevitably be lower than when reproducing the audible frequency band. However, the sound radiation direction is wider than that of an ultrasonic speaker, similar to the sound radiation from an audible range speaker, and the wide directional characteristics enable sound propagation over a wide area from the opening.

[0082] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the configuration of the organism exclusion device 1. Another configuration of the organism exclusion device 1 will be described based on FIG. 9. The organism exclusion device 1 shown in FIG. 9 is configured with two exterior parts 2 stacked one on top of the other. Screw holes are formed in the fixing device 5, so multiple exterior parts 2 can be stacked vertically. By finely adjusting the angle of each exterior part 2, it is possible to radiate sound more precisely than with a single unit, and when a vertical direction is required, for example, it is possible to radiate sound vertically in a spatial curtain-like manner.

[0083] The exterior parts 2 may be stacked in three or more layers. Multiple exterior parts 2 may be stacked using one fastener 5, or the fastener 5 may be made detachable so that the number of layers can be adjusted. "Finely varying the angle" means that, in the case of rectangular exterior parts 2, the exterior parts 2 do not completely overlap when viewed from above. Furthermore, when stacking multiple exterior parts 2, the shape, size, and performance of each exterior part 2 do not all need to be the same.

[0084] As described above, the organism exclusion device 1 is used to eliminate organisms to be eliminated, and comprises an exterior part 2 having an opening 7 formed on its underside, a reflector 8 that is freely movable below the opening 7 of the exterior part 2 via a fixing device 5 and reflects sound radiation at a predetermined angle, a direct sound emission speaker 20 that is installed on the side of the exterior part 2 and emits sound directly at the organisms to be eliminated, an indirect sound emission speaker 21 that is installed inside the exterior part 2 and emits sound indirectly at the organisms to be eliminated via the reflector 8, and an ultrasonic speaker stage 25 that is composed of a plurality of airborne ultrasonic elements 26 installed on a substrate 35 inside the exterior part 2 and emits sound indirectly at the organisms to be eliminated via the reflector 8.

[0085] This configuration makes it possible to appeal directly or indirectly to the instincts of animals, and to "eliminate / avoid" harmful animals (organisms to be eliminated) at a distance from the space where they should be eliminated.

[0086] In the living organism elimination device 1, the indirect sound emitting speaker 21 can be configured to be installed at a position where sound emitted from the indirect sound emitting speaker 21 does not overlap with sound emitted from the ultrasonic speaker stage 25.

[0087] With this configuration, sound radiation from the indirect sound radiation speaker 21 and sound radiation from the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 are not hindered from each other.

[0088] The biological exclusion device 1 is provided with a control unit 100 that controls the driving of the direct sound emission speaker 20, the indirect sound emission speaker 21, and the ultrasonic speaker stage 25, and the control unit 100 can be configured to emit sounds in the audible frequency band and the high frequency band from the direct sound emission speaker 20 and the indirect sound emission speaker 21 simultaneously with or with a time lag from sound emission from the ultrasonic speaker stage 25.

[0089] With this configuration, sound can be emitted at a minimum sound pressure level, so only the minimum necessary power is required. Furthermore, using a minimum sound pressure level can also solve the noise problem.

[0090] In the living organism elimination device 1, the control unit 100 can be configured to randomly reproduce sound emissions in the audible frequency band and high frequency band at a sound pressure level that can be heard by the living organisms to be eliminated.

[0091] With this configuration, it is possible to prevent the creatures to be excluded from becoming accustomed to the sound.

[0092] In the biological exclusion device 1, the control unit 100 can be configured to control the sound emission time from the ultrasonic speaker stage 25 to a maximum of 5 seconds, and the sound emission time from the direct sound emission speaker 20 and the indirect sound emission speaker 21 to a maximum of 3 minutes.

[0093] This configuration can reduce power consumption, extend the life of the device and sound emitting elements, and enable the elimination of target organisms over a long period of time.

[0094] In the organism exclusion device 1, a configuration can be adopted in which a plurality of exterior parts 2 are stacked one on top of the other via the fixing devices 5.

[0095] With this configuration, it is possible to provide a living organism removal device 1 that can be used for a variety of purposes without requiring a complex configuration.

[0096] As described above, the living creature elimination device 1 utilizes the behavioral patterns of animals toward humans and the hearing characteristics of animals, which are higher than those of humans, to emit sound at the sound pressure level required to eliminate animals, a sound emission means using an ultrasonic speaker stage that can reproduce audible sound by demodulation to the desired location, and a combination of sound emission in the audible and high frequency bands using the indirect sound emission speaker 21 and the direct sound emission speaker 20, or sound emission from any one of them alone, and to emit sound in various directions.By doing so, sound can be emitted at the minimum necessary sound pressure level against living creatures / animals that are trying to enter human living environments, thereby eliminating wild animals approaching a living environment without exposing humans in the living environment to unpleasant sounds.

[0097] Although several embodiments and modifications of each part of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments and modifications of each part are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments described above can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0098] 1 Biological exclusion device 2 Exterior part 3. Motion detection sensor 4 Charging panel 5 Fixtures 6 Bottom side 7 Openings 8 Reflector 9 Support part 10 Pedestal 11 End part (upper end part) 12 Termination part (lower end part) 20 Direct sound radiation speaker 21. Joint Sound Emission Speaker 25 Ultrasonic speaker stage 26 Airborne ultrasonic element 35 PCB 50 Sound radiation opening 53 Reflector edge 56 Exterior surface of exterior part 60 Strip-shaped base 100 control section 102 MEMS microphone

Claims

1. A biological exclusion device that eliminates target organisms, an exterior part having an opening formed on a lower surface; a reflector that is movably provided below the opening of the exterior portion via a fixture and that reflects sound radiation at a predetermined angle; A direct sound emission speaker installed on a side of the exterior part and emitting sound directly to the organisms to be excluded; An indirect sound emitting speaker that is installed inside the exterior part and indirectly radiates sound to the target organisms via the reflector; An organism exclusion device comprising: an ultrasonic speaker stage that is composed of a plurality of airborne ultrasonic elements mounted on a substrate inside the exterior portion and that indirectly emits sound to the organisms to be excluded via the reflector.

2. The indirect sound radiation speaker includes: The living thing exclusion device according to claim 1 , wherein the sound emitted from the indirect sound emission speaker is disposed at a position where the sound emitted from the ultrasonic speaker stage does not overlap with the sound emitted from the indirect sound emission speaker.

3. a control unit that controls driving of the direct sound radiating speaker, the indirect sound radiating speaker, and the ultrasonic speaker stage; The control unit 3. The living thing exclusion device according to claim 1, wherein sound in the audible frequency band and high frequency band is emitted from the direct sound emission speaker and the indirect sound emission speaker simultaneously with or with a time lag from sound emission from the ultrasonic speaker stage.

4. The control unit The organism exclusion device according to claim 3 , wherein the sound emissions in the audible frequency band and the high frequency band are randomly reproduced at a sound pressure level that can be heard by the organisms to be excluded.

5. The control unit The sound emission time from the ultrasonic speaker is up to 5 seconds, 4. The living thing exclusion device according to claim 3, wherein the sound emission time from said direct sound emission speaker and said indirect sound emission speaker is controlled to a maximum of three minutes.

6. The organism exclusion device according to claim 1 , wherein the exterior parts are stacked one on top of the other via the fasteners.

Images