Improvements in and relating to ear tags.

The present invention relates to a mark for attachment to the ear of animals.

To date, different signs are known for marking the ears of animals. A very popular method of attaching such markings, to the ears of animals, is to use a locking device that consists of mother and father type coupling elements, the father element is usually a sharp-headed shaft that penetrates into the an orifice, said orifice constituting the parent component of the locking device. The sharp-headed shaft and orifice may be formed as a component of a separate mark or as part of a single mark component, an example of such a mark format is the mark described in the bibliography, while an example of the latter trademark type can be found in Patent, England, no., 1529258.

Other well-known brands are normally constructed from a piece or two, have a rigid head pin that opposes a hole and an elastic mark pin. • written in the bibliography.

Marks of this type are normally applied by forced penetration into the sharp-headed shaft through the animal's ear and through the mother's orifice. Extremity 5 of the head portion of the shaft (usually conical) bites or pierces the ear, the opening, thus formed, is pushed forward by moving the respective conical end ι_θ (sharp).

With all these good results, there is a great disadvantage in these types of marks, especially when applied to the ears of animals, such as sheep, goats, etc., finding that in these situations, sheep are prone to developing necrosis at ear after applying the marks.

This disadvantage is determined by several factors such as poor hygiene conditions during the marking, lack of air circulation around the wound, in order to speed up wound healing and wound irritation due to threads.

2₅ wool running through both sides of the wound through the ear, where devices such as a stapler with a lock button are used. This latter factor is accentuated when the mark is applied81314

THE PRICE OF LEI 18.03 in this way, the tapered head shaft pierces the back ear, this portion being a part covered with lining and in this way inevitably the line is pushed through the wound and into the opening of the locking device, on the button the inner part of the ear that remains tightly sealed, the tissues then come in contact with the respective axis and inhibit ventilation.

'Even if adequate hygiene standards are applied, however, necrosis appears, indicating that these are caused by the fact that ear piercing occurs too tightly on the staple shaft even though the linen or more correctly _; linen threads are not necessarily necessary to pierce the ear, even if certain linen threads come in, they will be firmly fastened by the staple button and contribute to the tightening of the ear. The general effect is that * it restricts the movement of the acre around the surface of the wound, as well as its irritation of any thread, which can be passed through the wound.

It was established that if a hole was previously made in the ear lobe and then the mark is inserted, the necrosis of this ear lobe would be marked reduced. In this case, where the hole in the ear lobe has been formed previously, no line thread can pass through it nor caught by the fastening device, because the wool is cut and removed during the drilling. If a distinct hole is executed and not a puncture, the shaft must not be inserted into this hole in the ear lobe. The general result is that, there is no possibility of wound irritation due to wool yarns and the air will circulate around the wound.

Pre-marking means that there are two distinct operations in the marking procedure. The present invention, however, permits the application of the mark in a single operation, an operation that ensures that the hole or hole is punctured in the lobe of the animal's ear simultaneously with the father element of the mark passing through the ear.

The mark for attachment to the ear of the animals, according to the invention, removes the disadvantages of the markings having fastening means, being formed by an orifice and a pin having a head portion at the free side of S3, the respective head portion during use being passed through ear and through the respective orifice, in that for the purpose of applying to the ear in a single operation concomitantly with its perforation, it is ^b*. .Λ consisting of two components of which one has several constructive variants of perforating means located at the top end of the component having the positive end shape.

The piercing means in a constructive embodiment, may be formed as an integral part of the respective portion of the head, although, preferably, the mark is constructed of a rigid or absolutely rigid material, or as a part of a hard material of molded tip type in the head portion. If the model of top brand of hard molded material is used, the mark can be made of an elastic material, and the shaft has a tubular shape, in this way the hole made by it has a smaller diameter than that of the tip . in the inner end portion s? forms a shoulder so that it or another shoulder provided on an application pin, may engage with the first when the shaft is provided with such a pin.

In another embodiment, the piercing means may be a cutting edge formed at the end of the head portion, the cutting edge being a complementary shape of the orifice, but of much larger size so * it is preferable that the cutting edge be circular and a diameter that is larger than the hole diameter. It is also preferable that the diameter of the orifice be somewhat smaller since the diameter of the largest cross-section of the head portion and, consequently, the diameter of the cutting edge be smaller than the largest diameter of the cross-section of the head of the shaft (tubular part). ).

The cutting (piercing) edge may be formed by an annular wall which is tapered to a sharp point, and in another form, the cutting edge may be formed by an opening provided at the end of the head portion. In another constructive form, the extremity of the head portion is a flat surface which lies in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the needle, the cutting morgue being the peripheral edge of the respective planar surface.

In the following, an embodiment of the invention is given, with reference to Ja fig. 1 ... 5, which represents:

FIG. 1, side elevation view of a bicomponent mark having the perforation means made according to the invention;

FIG. 2, an enlarged partial section view of part of the components of the mark in fig. 1 ;

FIG. 3, a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIG. 2 "but which shows another constructive variant of the invention_; FIG. 4, a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIG. 2 and 3, but showing the third constructive form of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the fourth embodiment according to the invention.

The mark for attachment to the ear of the animals, according to the present invention, consists of two component parts A and B, each of which is constructed of a molded elastic plastic material such as, for example, polyurethane. Component A is formed as a tubular piece, 1 provided with a larger diameter end 2, on which a top piece 3 of a molded material is applied, which may have different shapes. The second component B is provided with an orifice a which is preferably surrounded by a wall or a protuberance b which is larger in diameter than the orifice a.

The present invention is, however, non-restrictive to this form of the mark, in this way also other configurations of the mark, such as the marks of an elastic piece or the marks of two pieces of rigid material such as brass, aluminum or materials rigid plastics, cannot exceed the scope of the invention. The top piece 3 has a coaxial orifice with a central d orifice formed in the tubular part 1.

The diameter of the orifice c is smaller than that of the orifice d, thus extending to the end portion 2 an inner shoulder e is formed. The orifice c does not necessarily have to penetrate the top piece 3 but can be pierced or as can be seen in fig. . 4. In the case of the mark represented in fig. 2, the application device (seen by the dashed line), is provided with a pin 4 which passes through the d-hole thus preventing its free end to enter the orifice c.

The pin 4 has a sharp head f which protrudes out of the piece 3, having a smaller diameter, comes in contact with the support shoulder e. For the application of the respective mark, the pin 4 is inserted in the tubular part 1 and, with the help of an applied driving force. on the pin 4, which penetrates into the piece 3, engages with its shoulder the shoulder e of the piece 3 and thereby engages the end of the hole c if the hole has an inaccurate configuration as in fig. 4. According to the invention, other configurations can also be used (>

Used to ensure a positive location of pin 4 of application 4 in the top piece 3.

The top piece 3 is provided at one end with v first flange g_r which is incorporated into the head portion 2. A second flange or outer flange h is located at the other end and forms the end of the top piece 3 which has a circular and sharp cut forming the cutting edge i. This ring cutting edge i is concentric with the hole c and has a diameter that is smaller than the diameter of the largest cross section of the hole a of component B, i.e. the diameter of the protrusion b. The difference in diameter between the hole a and the edge i may vary depending on the materials used to make the components of the mark.

During the use of the components A and B they are installed in an application device as described in the Patent, England no. 1394268. The tip f of the pin 4 extends over the top piece 3 and acts as a localization guide in the initial application stage, thus preventing the application device from slipping. After installing the components in the application device it is recommended that the entire device be immersed in a disinfectant solution.

The tubular piece 1 is then close to the ear and when it is centered, the application is carried out by a gentle but firm pressing. The cutting edge comes into contact with the ear and the surface of component B that surrounds the orifice forming a nylon, or a pressure cushion and by pressing, the cutting edge cuts a fabric stopper thereby forming an orifice in the ear lobe that is shaped. it has a slightly larger diameter than the outer diameter of the tubular part 1.

The portion of the head 2 which is in continuation of the top piece 3 passes through the hole in the ear, through the hole a and, finally, it penetrates inside the cavity j of the protrusion b. The fabric stopper falls from the top piece 3 once it has passed through the hole a and through the cavity j.

In this situation, the top piece 3 forms a perforator and the action of the relative movement of components A and B caused by the application device, catches the ear of the animal between the cutting edge i and the rigid but elastic component of component B. The movement of the tip still causes or more correctly determines the cut of the lobu81314 tissue to the ears and the lina, thus creating the aforementioned plug, which exists in front of the top piece 3. When does the top piece 3 continue? move, the plug passes through the hole under the preheat, so that it opens the point hole to facilitate the passage through it of the top piece 3, which has a large diameter. The plug creates a barrier between the cutting edge i and the material surrounding the hole a, so as to prevent unwanted damage through the cutting edge cutting action.

Component B has, this time, an additional function other than to form a staple lock device and performs a means of identification by its identification number or symbol.

This additional function is to form a nylon, a pressure cushion or a mold for the drilling action of the top piece 3.

As mentioned above, the configuration of the drill element is only one of the preferred forms. For example, the invention is also applicable to rigid type marks where the material used for the construction of the mark is rigid in nature such as nylon. As a \^ztwo-component bending of the mark, it may be formed with ό a positive profile component made of a rigid material and a negative profile component made of a flexible or elastic material. In another embodiment, the head 2 of such a mark will be constructed in one piece, as shown in FIG. 3 where the outer extremity li of the child is integrally provided with a cutting edge and directly in piece 2 by forming in the area of ​​the extremity a hole k of plate or disc type. In this case, the tubular part 1 is in solidarity with the part 2, due to the use of a rigid material.

Another embodiment shown in FIG. 4, wherein the construction is similar to that shown in fig. 1 and 2. However, the cutting edge i is formed by a concave hole its plate k even in the top piece 3 of hard material. In this constructive form, the mark is represented as having an open hole.

In another representative constructive embodiment in FIG. 5, component A has a tip piece 3 of another shape provided with a surface with end d and a tip on this surface. The cutting edge i is formed by a peripheral edge of the top piece 3. Cn x

this polished form 4 may penetrate it straight through the orifice as shown in FIG. 2 or ends in the unobstructed hole, as shown in fig. 4. On the other hand, the pin 4 ends in an open hole c and is formed as a guide point f which is an integral part of the top piece 3.

The present invention is not limited to other configurations of the needle tip ends that may be used as the configurations described herein by way of embodiments.

The mark can be used not only in sheep but in all animals that are marked. An orifice is made in the lobe of the animal's ear and is perforated at the same time as the tubular part of the mark is fixed thereon, without being sealed. This allows access to the air around the wound and speeds up the healing process of the wound.

The mark for attachment to the ear of the animals, according to the invention, has the following advantages:

- allows it to be applied by a single cutting operation? of the ear and with its fixation_; - allows the access of air around the fixing part, eliminating the formation of necroses;

- also serves as a means of identification.