An electric fence energiser

Abstract

An energiser for an electric fence. The energiser includes, at least, one energy storage capacitor (14),
a charging circuit (13) to enable the or each storage capacitor (14) to be charged from an energy
source (10), semiconductor switching means (16), and control circuit means (15) to facilitate
controlled turning -on and -off of the semiconductor switching means (16) to control the duration of the
discharge from the energy storage means (14). In one form of the energiser a first semi-conductor
switching means is arranged to connect in parallel the energy storage capacitors (14) to be charged
and second semi-conductor switching means to connect two or more of the charged energy storage
capacitors (14) in series to create an output pulse.

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Classifications

H05C1/04 Circuits or apparatus for generating electric shock effects providing pulse voltages
EP1667497A2
European Patent Office
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Other languages
German
French
Inventor
Pieter Cornelis Lunenburg
Robert Charles Bryan Woodhead
John Murphy
Current Assignee
Tru-Test Ltd
Tru Test Ltd

Worldwide applications
2004 NZ 2005 ZA US EP AU

Application EP05256200A events

2004-10-04

Priority to NZ53571904A

2005-10-04

Application filed by Tru-Test Ltd, Tru Test Ltd

2006-06-07

Publication of EP1667497A2

2007-08-29

Publication of EP1667497A3

Status

Withdrawn

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Patent citations (5)
Cited by (7)
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Description

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

 [0001]

This invention relates to an electric fence energiser.

 [0002]

The term energiser in connection with electric fencing is commonly used to indicate a
generator of a high voltage output which can be connected to an electric fence to electrify the
fence. Other terms used to identify this piece of electric fencing equipment include fence
controller, electrifier, charger, pulse generator and the like.

 [0003]

Electric fencing is widely used for the control of livestock animals, game, perimeter security
installations and possible other uses. In such installations, the energiser performs the function
of supplying a high voltage to one or more conductors of the electric fence with the aim of
providing an electric shock to an animal or a person touching one or more of the conductors.
 The high voltage on the fence conductors may be present in the form of intermittent pulses of
short duration, or as a continuous AC or DC voltage.

 [0004]

A significant proportion of energisers provide intermittent high voltage pulses of short duration
to the electric fence. Other energisers provide continuous high voltage DC or AC. The
reasons for the popularity of the pulsed type of energiser are many. One of the reasons is that
for most practical electric fence installations the pulsed type of energiser is capable of
providing a more powerful electric shock than other types of energisers, and thus provides a
better deterrent for animals or persons attempting to cross the barrier formed by the electric
fence.

 [0005]

Currently there are three main types of electric fence energisers used in the field of electric
fencing. One type, which accounts for the majority of energisers, is a capacitor discharge
model with a step-up transformer. This type of energiser operates by discharging one or more
energy storage capacitors through a primary winding on the transformer. The secondary
winding, which typically has a greater number of turns than the primary winding, thereby
transforms the voltage that is imposed across the primary winding to a higher voltage. The
secondary winding is usually directly electrically connected to the electric fence.

 [0006]

A semiconductor switching device is held in the off (blocking) state to allow charging of the
energy storage capacitor(s). When charging is complete the switching device is placed in the
on (conducting) state to rapidly connect the capacitor to the primary winding of the
transformer thereby allowing a rapid discharge and production of a high voltage pulse.

 [0007]

There are a number of reasons why this type of energiser has become the most popular.
These include:-

o Energy storage capacitors with rated voltages between 250V DC and 1200V DC are
mass-produced, are low cost and readily available.
o Thyristor switching devices with rated voltages between 400V DC and 1200V DC are
also mass-produced, low cost and readily available. In addition, in a high-energy
energiser a large current flows through the switching device, the capacitor and the
transformer primary winding during the pulse (in the order of several hundreds of
amperes to over a thousand), which can be tolerated by the same low cost thyristors.
o A peak pulse voltage of 1200V is generally considered insufficient (too low) to
effectively deter animals (livestock) from crossing a barrier formed by an electric
fence. As a general rule, pulses with a peak voltage of 3000V and higher are
considered adequate.
o Electric fence energisers powered from the AC mains and some models powered by
battery generally have an electrical safety isolating barrier between the AC mains
terminals and the fence terminals. This barrier is mandatory in the interest of safety.
The step-up transformer is constructed to perform a dual function:
1. (1) To increase the voltage from between 400...1200V to more than 3000V as
required for effectiveness of the electric fence barrier.
2. (2) The mandatory electrical isolating barrier is most easily constructed
between the primary and the secondary winding of the step-up transformer.
 [0008]
 A second type of electric fence energiser is the inductive discharge model in which the step-
up transformer functions as the energy storage device as well as the means of increasing the
pulse output voltage to the desired level. Thus in this type of energiser energy is stored in the
magnetic field (iron core) of the step-up transformer by allowing a current to build up in the
primary winding of the transformer. When this current is abruptly interrupted (typically by
using a semiconductor switching device such as a power MOSFET or a BJT), a high voltage
pulse is developed across the windings of the transformer.

 [0009]

This type of energiser is not very popular mostly because it is limited to maximum power
levels that are considerably lower than what can be achieved using the capacitor discharge
topology. In addition, controlling the maximum pulse voltage may require additional
components such as high voltage varistors (MOVs).

 [0010]

The third type of energiser is a DC fence charger, typically formed by placing a constant high
DC voltage on the fence conductors by means of a low current (high impedance) voltage
multiplier circuit. These types of energisers are predominantly used in North America. The
charger typically is constructed using a "capacitor and diode" voltage multiplier chain,
rectifying and multiplying mains input voltage up to the desired output voltage. Either the
output of the chain is connected to the fence conductors via relatively high impedance, or the
mains input is connected to the chain via similarly high impedance. The high impedance is
mandatory for this type of energiser to ensure safety.

 [0011]

This type of energiser is limited to very low power levels due to the required high impedance.

 [0012]

Both capacitor discharge type and inductive discharge type energisers tend to be wasteful of
energy for many load conditions. In an energiser that may be considered state-of-the-art
about 20% or more of the stored energy is lost in the electronic components forming the pulse
generating circuit, even under the most favourable load conditions. For loads other than the
most favourable value the loss increases and reaches 100% for many designs under open-
circuit load conditions. Whilst such energy loss is often not of concern for low- and medium-
energy energisers, energy loss in internal circuits can become a problem for high-energy
energisers. In addition, if an energiser is supplied by an energy-limited supply such as a
battery or a solar panel it is desirable to minimise energy losses to maximise battery life
and/or to minimise size and cost of the battery and/or solar panel.

 [0013]

One of the components responsible for a significant amount of energy loss is the step-up
transformer employed in both the capacitor discharge- and the inductive discharge- type of
energiser. Especially in high-energy energisers the step-up transformer is a major source of
energy loss due to resistive losses in the copper windings, hysteretic and eddy current losses
in the magnetic core and poor inductive coupling of the windings due to saturation of the
magnetic core material.

 [0014]

It is possible to improve the efficiency of the step-up transformer by configuring the

transformer as what is commonly known as an auto-transformer, wherein the primary and
secondary windings are not electrically isolated. However, whilst the auto-transformer mostly
 offers an improvement by way of better coupling between the windings, the other losses
associated with step-up transformers remain largely or entirely the same and the advantage
of improved coupling may be partially lost if the magnetic material of the core becomes
saturated during the pulse.

 [0015]

Energisers generally comply with international and national safety standards. In particular,
limits are applied to the minimum pulse interval duration, the maximum amount of energy
and/or the maximum magnitude and duration of the electric current per pulse that an
energiser is allowed to supply to certain standard load impedances connected to the
energiser. Although capacitor discharge type energisers can be easily made to comply with
such safety standards, such energisers still have a limited amount of control over the three
pulse parameters energy, current and duration. Many designs overcome some of the
limitations by regulating the voltage to which the energy storage capacitor is charged, and
some designs also provide the ability to discharge more than one capacitor or bank of
capacitors, thereby attempting to maximise pulse voltage for a wider range of load
impedances than is possible with just a single energy storage capacitor or bank of capacitors.

 [0016]

The step-up transformer used in conventional energiser designs places a severe restriction
on the maximum pulse width that can be achieved, because the magnetic core material tends
to become saturated for longer pulse durations.

 [0017]

A capacitor discharge energiser with a step-up transformer generates a current in the primary
winding that can reach hundreds of amperes for low- to medium- energy designs and may
reach thousands of amperes for high- energy designs. To be able to control and switch
currents of this magnitude the preferred device is a thyristor, also commonly known as a
silicon controlled rectifier SCR. Sometimes a triac is used.

 [0018]

A limitation of a thyristor and triac is that it is difficult to turn the device off (i.e. revert the
device to the non-conducting state) once it is placed in the conducting state. In a practical
situation this means that most or all of the energy stored in the energy storage device is
transferred and/or dissipated before the thyristor or triac returns to the non-conducting state.
The difficulty in turning off the switching device therefore is the reason, in most current
energiser designs, for a limitation on the minimum pulse duration that the energiser can
produce.

 [0019]

Many attempts have been made to overcome problems inherent with electric fence energisers
of the aforementioned type. Many of these attempts have focused on an energiser which can
be controlled so as to vary the output essentially in response to load on the electric fence.
One approach has been to incorporate multiple energy storage capacitors and then use a
control circuit to allow one or more of the capacitors to discharge, the number of capacitors
being discharged being in response to a sensed load on the fence.

 [0020]

Another approach has been to charge the storage capacitor to a level commensurate with a
load sensed on the electric fence so that upon discharge the required energy level is
transferred to the fence.
 [0021]

Yet another approach proposes circuitry in which there are a number of storage
capacitor/step-up up transformer combinations and control means to trigger one or more of
the combinations dependent on the sensed load on the fence line.

 [0022]

All of these approaches have been intended to deal with problems inherent with known
constructions of energiser though, more particularly, with capacitor discharge type energisers.
By controlling the energy stored in or discharged from the energy storage device(s) using one
of the abovementioned methods, the amount of energy output at each discharge can be
controlled for either energy conservation or safety purposes. Also, factors such as heat build
up in the energiser can be improved.

 [0023]

In all of these approaches the output is controlled by the amount to which the energy storage
capacitor is charged or the number of energy storage capacitors which are discharged to
create the output pulse.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

 [0024]

The object of the present invention is to provide an electric fence energiser in which the
duration of the output pulse is controlled over a wide range to thereby control output energy.

 [0025]

Broadly according to one aspect of the invention there is provided an energiser for an electric
fence, the energiser including, at least, one energy storage capacitor, a charging circuit to
enable the or each storage capacitor to be charged from an energy source, semiconductor
switching means, and control circuit means to facilitate controlled turning - on and -off of the
semiconductor switching means to control the duration of the discharge from the energy
storage means.

 [0026]

Preferably the energy storage means is a capacitor or a multitude of capacitors that can be
charged to a desired pulse output voltage.

 [0027]

Preferably the energiser does not employ a step-up output transformer.

 [0028]

In a preferred form the semiconductor switching device is selected from an insulated gate
bipolar transistor (IGBT), a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) or a power MOSFET (metal oxide
semiconductor field effect transistor) or a multitude of said devices.

 [0029]
 In one form of the invention the switching device is constructed from a multitude of devices
and the turn-on and turn-off speed of the individual devices is controlled by means of
components connected to the devices.

 [0030]

Preferably the energiser calculates the energy delivered to a load connected to the output
terminals by measuring the energy stored in the energy storage device(s) prior to and after
each output pulse and calculating the difference.

 [0031]

The energy source can be AC mains power supply, a low voltage DC or AC power supply,
such as a battery and/or solar panel, or a combination of low voltage DC or AC and AC mains
power supply.

 [0032]

The energiser is capable of producing a series of pulses of controlled amplitude, duration and
separation in place of a single pulse of equivalent energy. The series of pulses can be used
for fence wire communication and to selectively control other devices connected to
conductors of an electric fence, or for the transmission of other information over said
conductors. Due to high voltage, high power output capability of the energiser the
effectiveness of the information transmission system would be superior in performance to that
normally associated with known techniques available and could become the primary function
of the energiser over animal control.

 [0033]

In one form the energiser is arranged to be controlled by a remote control means, whereby
the attenuation of the remote control signal associated with energisers that incorporate a
step-up transformer connected to the fence is largely avoided on account of the high
impedance presented by the semiconductor switching means in the blocking (non-conducting
or off-) state.

 [0034]

According to a second broad aspect of the invention there is provided an electric fence
energiser including a plurality of energy storage capacitors, a charging circuit to enable at
least some of the energy storage capacitors to be charged from an energy source, first semi-
conductor switching means arranged to connect in parallel the energy storage capacitors to
be charged and second semi-conductor switching means to connect two or more of the
charged energy storage capacitors in series to create an output pulse.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

 [0035]

In the following more detailed description of the invention reference will be made to the
accompanying drawings in which:-

o Figure 1 is a block diagram of an energiser according to the present invention,

o Figure 2 is a more detailed circuit diagram of an electric fence energiser incorporating
the present invention,
o Figure 3 is a graphical representation of pulse voltage waveforms,
o Figure 4 is a circuit diagram of an electric fence energiser incorporating the present
invention according to a second embodiment,
o Figure 5 is a circuit diagram as shown in Figure 4 but illustrating the charging state of
the energiser,
o Figure 6 is similar to Figure 5 but showing the energiser in a discharge state, and
o Figure 7 is a graphical representation of a possible pulse voltage waveform.