Abstract:
The identification tag is provided in a general horseshoe shape with resilient prongs engageable to a shaft such as a shaft of a pulley-mounted hook at a beginning of a processing line. The identification tag can be used to track a product throughout the processing line.

Description:
FIELD 
       [0001]    The improvements generally relate to the field of identification systems, and more particularly to an identification tag adapted to be snappingly engaged to a rotatable shaft. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Although many forms of identification tags existed, there remained unaddressed needs. For instance, many slaughterhouses have a processing line where the carcasses are carried by a pulley-mounted hook across various transformation steps to turn them into animal product, often including harsh environments such as flames used to burn the carcasses&#39; hair, very cold temperature to quickly freeze the animals, agents to clean the hooks, etc. While various forms of identification tags existed for tracking the identity (provenance, etc.) of the live animal, there was a need to continue to track the carcass or meat as it was carried across various transformation steps in the slaughterhouse to ensure that the animal product resulting therefrom is associated with the right animal when they exit the slaughterhouse. Other types of production lines where products are suspended from pulleys had similar needs in terms of tracking the conveyed products. Such similar tracking needs may occur in the pulp and paper industry or metallic component production, for instance. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    An example of a pulley-mounted hook  10  of a type used in some slaughterhouses is shown in  FIG. 1 . The pulley-mounted hook  10  generally includes a pulley  12  having a shaft  14  coinciding with a rotation axis  16  of the pulley  12  and a U or J-shaped frame member  20  mounted to the shaft  14  on each side of the pulley  12 . A hook  18  is secured to the frame member  20 . Alternate embodiments can have different shapes. 
         [0004]    In accordance with one aspect, there is provided an identification tag which can be removably clipped onto the shaft  14  in the relatively narrow spacing between the frame member  20  and the pulley  12 . To this end, the identification tag is provided with a slender body having a general horseshoe shape with a base and prongs, and which is sufficiently elastic for a neck of the prongs to be spaced-apart from one another upon application of an external force to allow the shaft  14  to be engaged in a shaft area between the prongs, and then recover their original shape to trap the shaft  14  in the shaft area. A substrate having identification data can be embedded within the resilient material and protected thereby. The identification data can be matched to the identification of the given carcass which is attached to the pulley-mounted hook  10 . The identification data can be read wirelessly as the pulley proceeds along the carcass processing line. Accordingly, throughout the carcass processing line, the substrate can be read to identify the animal product obtained from a given hook to allow its association to a specific animal identification. At the end of the chain, the shape of the identification tag can be designed to allow for proper cleaning of the hooks without the need for removing the identification tag from the hook. As will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art in the light of this specification, in alternate embodiments, the identification tag can be adapted for clipping on other shafts than those of slaughterhouse pulley-mounted hooks. 
         [0005]    Typically, sometime between the moment when the animal is killed and when the carcass has been engaged on the hook  18 , an identification tag of the animal is removed from the animal. Accordingly, at one point in time, typically at the beginning of the processing line, the animal identification from the identification tag is associated with the identification tag which is engaged to the corresponding hook. The carcass is then proceeded along the processing line with the pulley-mounted hook  10  for the various steps to be performed on the carcass to obtain animal product therefrom. The animal product obtained from the carcass is then identified using the reading of the identification tag of the pulley-mounted hook  10 . 
         [0006]    In accordance with one aspect, there is provided an identification tag clippable to a shaft into a clipped position, the identification tag comprising a body having a slender, horseshoe-like shape with two prongs protruding from a base to corresponding tips, a substrate with computer-readable identification data stored therein, the substrate being embedded within the base, the two prongs having a neck area where the distance between the two prongs is smaller than a diameter of the shaft when in the clipped position, and a broader shaft area located between the two prongs, between the neck area and the base, where the shaft is received when in the clipped position, the body having an elasticity allowing the two prongs to spread apart from one another upon application of an external force to allow the shaft thereacross, into the shaft area, and to spring back toward one another thereafter to trap the shaft in the shaft area. 
         [0007]    In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a method of associating an animal product to an animal identification in a slaughterhouse, the method comprising : engaging a carcass to a pulley-mounted hook at a beginning of a processing line of the slaughterhouse, the pulley-mounted hook having an identification tag clipped around a shaft of the pulley-mounted hook, the identification tag having a substrate with identification data stored therein, associating the animal identification of the animal preceding the carcass to the identification data of the identification tag; proceeding the engaged animal carcass and identification tag along a processing line of the slaughterhouse to obtain the animal product therefrom, reading the identification data wirelessly using at least one reader along the processing line to allow identifying the animal product to the animal identification. 
         [0008]    In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a system for tracking animal product data in a slaughterhouse, the system comprising : a plurality of identification tags, each being clippable to a shaft of a corresponding pulley-mounted hook into a clipped position, the identification tag comprising a body having a slender, horseshoe-like shape with two prongs protruding from a base to corresponding tips, the two prongs having a neck area where the distance between the two prongs is smaller than a diameter of the shaft when in the clipped position, and a broader shaft area located between the two prongs, between the neck area and the base, where the shaft is received when in the clipped position, the body having an elasticity allowing the two prongs to spread apart from one another upon application of an external force to allow the shaft thereacross, into the shaft area, and to spring back toward one another thereafter to trap the shaft in the shaft area; and a reader securely mountable along a transformation line of the slaughterhouse, the reader being adapted to read identification data stored in the identification tags as the identification tags are carried along the transformation line with corresponding carcasses or animal product by the pulley-mounted hooks. 
         [0009]    In accordance with another aspect, there is provided an identification tag clippable to a shaft into a clipped position, the identification tag comprising a body having a slender, horseshoe-like shape with two prongs protruding from a base to corresponding tips, the two prongs having a neck area where the distance between the two prongs is smaller than a diameter of the shaft when in the clipped position, and a broader shaft area located between the two prongs, between the neck area and the base, where the shaft is received when in the clipped position, the body having an elasticity allowing the two prongs to spread apart from one another upon application of an external force to allow the shaft thereacross, into the shaft area, and to spring back toward one another thereafter to trap the shaft in the shaft area. 
         [0010]    Many further features and combinations thereof concerning the present improvements will appear to those skilled in the art following a reading of the instant disclosure. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0011]    In the figures, 
           [0012]      FIG. 1  is a view of an example of a slaughterhouse pulley-mounted hook in accordance with the prior art; 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  is an oblique view of an embodiment of an identification tag engageable to a shaft, with  FIG. 2A  showing a RFID chip and a metal support which are embedded in a plastic body of the identification tag; 
           [0014]      FIG. 3A  is an axial elevation view of the identification tag of  FIG. 2 , with  FIGS. 3B and 3C  being taken along cross-section lines  3 B- 3 B and  3 C- 3 C, respectively; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4A  is an oblique view of another embodiment of an identification tag, with  FIG. 4B  being a cross-section taken along cross-section line  4 B- 4 B and  FIG. 4C  showing a bare metal support thereof; and 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a sectional side view of another example of an identification tag engageable to a shaft, in accordance with an embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0017]      FIG. 2  shows an example of an identification tag  100  which can be inserted between a frame member  20  and a pulley  12  of a hook-mounted pulley  10  such as shown in  FIG. 1 , and clippingly engaged with the shaft  14 . 
         [0018]    As seen in  FIGS. 2 and 2A , the identification tag  100  has a slender body  102  which evokes a horseshoe shape. The body  102  has two prongs  104   a  and  104   b  which protrude from a base  106  to corresponding tips  108   a  and  108   b.  A substrate  110  having identification data stored therein is embedded into the base  106 . In this embodiment, the substrate  110  is provided in the form of a RFID chip and will be referred to as “RFID chip  110 ” for ease of reading. The RFID chip  110  is supported by a metal support  112 . The metal support  112  has three holding tabs  114   a,    114   b  and  114   c  which in this case protrude in opposite direction in the plane of the horseshoe shape (such as shown at  115  in  FIG. 3B ) to be held by a mould during moulding. A plastic moulding  116  is cast over the metal support  112  and the RFID chip  110  while the metal support  112  is held in the mould by the three holding tabs  114   a,    114   b  and  114   c.  The plastic moulding  116  covers and surrounds such as to encapsulate the RFID chip  110 . The plastic material is selected so as to resist the flames, freezing temperatures and cleaning agents which can be encountered in a slaughterhouse processing line. 
         [0019]    In this embodiment, the prongs  104   a  and  104   b  are made of the plastic moulding  116 . Accordingly, the plastic material is also selected to exhibit a satisfactory amount of elasticity. This can contribute to protect the substrate  110  from shocks, but most importantly allows a narrower neck area  118  of the prongs  104   a  and  104   b  to open up, spreading the prongs  104   a  and  104   b  away from one another, to allow engagement of the shaft  14  into a shaft area  120  of the identification tag  100  located between the prongs  104   a  and  104   b  and between the narrower neck area  118  and the base  106 . Once the shaft  14  has passed the narrower neck area  118 , the prongs  104   a  and  104   b  can revert back to their original relative position, or ‘spring back’, for the identification tag  100  to successfully ‘clip’ onto the shaft  14 . As it can be seen in  FIG. 1 , the narrower neck area  118  has a given distance  119  between the two prongs  104   a  and  104   b  that is smaller than a diameter  121  of the shaft  14 . 
         [0020]    One challenge, which was encountered in designing the identification tag  100  for the specific scenario of a slaughterhouse environment, is to ensure that the tag  100  be successfully read at the relevant moment in the processing line, lest the association between the animal product obtained from the carcass and the animal identification be lost. It was found that several factors could lead to reading errors in this specific context. For instance, it was found that some reading errors could be associated with the fact that the angular orientation of the identification tag  100  was not adequate for proper reading and led to dead spots. Designing the identification tag  100  in a manner that it will become integral with the pulley  12  and rotate therewith as the carcass is carried along the processing line ensures a change in the angular orientation of the identification tag  100  as it moves on the processing line. This change in angular orientation can be harnessed to achieve a greater certainty of a readable orientation as it passes in front of the reader. Accordingly, if a first one of the readings is taken at a moment when the angular orientation of the identification tag  100  is in a dead spot, the second one of the readings can be taken at a different angular orientation where an antenna  122  of the identification tag  100  is better exposed to the reader. 
         [0021]    In the illustrated embodiment, the snug engagement of the identification tag  100  with the shaft  14  contributes to ensure the rotation of the identification tag  100  with the pulley  12 . In the particular embodiment shown in  FIG. 3A , the snug engagement is ensured by the position and configuration of three protrusions  124   a,    124   b  and  124   c  which protrude from the body  102  in the radially-inward direction (i.e. toward the shaft  14 ) and are designed to firmly abut against corresponding positions around the shaft  14 . The protrusions  124   a,    124   b  and  124   c  are interspaced from one another along the horseshoe shape in a manner to be regularly interspaced from one another around the periphery of the shaft  14 , as shown. These protrusions  124   a,    124   b  and  124   c  also form a radial spacing  126  between the shaft  14  and the remainder of the body  102  of the identification tag  100  in this embodiment. This radial spacing  126  can contribute to form a distance between the RFID chip  110  and the shaft  14  to facilitate readability, and can also allow the two holding tabs  114   a  and  114   b  of the metal support  112  to be received out from interference with the shaft  14 . A different number of tabs can be used in an alternate embodiments. It will be noted here that the presence of the radial spacing  126  can also help facilitate cleaning without removing the tag  100  from the shaft  14 . 
         [0022]    Providing a spacing between the RFID chip  110  and other metallic components (such as the pulley  12  itself which is typically metallic in the case of slaughterhouses) was also considered as a potential factor to better position the identification tag  100  and increase the likelihood of a successful reading. In this embodiment, as perhaps best shown in  FIG. 3B , three axial protrusions  128   a,    128   b  and  128   c  protrude axially from a face  130  of the body  116  to form an axial spacing  132  between the remainder of the body  116  and a face  22  of the pulley  12 . In this specific embodiment, the three axial protrusions  128   a,    128   b  and  128   c  are made integral to corresponding ones of the three radial protrusions  124   a,    124   b  and  124   c  although it will be understood that in alternate embodiments, the radial protrusions  124   a,    124   b  and  124   c  can be embodied separately from the axial protrusions  128   a,    128   b  and  128   c.    
         [0023]    An advantage of the support  112  being metallic vs. other types of materials is that in the case of a metal component, if the tag  100  is lost during the processing, it can be detected by metal detectors which are commonly used in slaughterhouses. 
         [0024]    Another source of reading errors can come from damage made to the RFID chip  110 , either during use or during moulding. As exposed above, covering the RFID chip  110  with a layer of plastic  134  having a given thickness, as shown in  FIG. 3C , can go a certain way in protecting the RFID chip  110  from shocks during use. This can be achieved by locating the metal support  112  of the RFID chip  110  in the mould when moulding, such as can be achieved by the three holding tabs  114   a,    114   b  and  114   c  which are held by the mould during moulding in this embodiment. 
         [0025]    However, issues have been known to possibly occur during manufacture. For instance, when an injection point of the plastic was located directly above the RFID chip  110 , the pressure from the injection point during moulding has been known to cause occurrences of damage to the chip  110 , and more specifically damage the antenna  122 . To alleviate this, in this embodiment, the thickness of the layer of plastic  134  can be further increased on the side of the face of the RFID chip  110  where the plastic is injected, to space the injection point apart from the surface of the chip  110 . By using a satisfactory clearance thickness  136 , the pressure acting on the RFID chip  110  can be reduced. Furthermore, when the metal support  112  was only held by the holding tabs  114   a,    114   b  and  114   c,  the pressure acting upon has been diagnosed to bend the metal support  112  to a certain extent, leading to a bending force acting on the RFID chip  110 . Although the metal support  112  can bend and revert to its original shape to a certain extent, RFID chips  110  can break when subjected to bending forces. In this embodiment, to alleviate this effect, the metal support  112  is provided with support bulges  138  embossed in the metal support  112  and projecting in the direction opposite the RFID chip  110 . The support protrusions  138  act as pillars by coming into abutment with a corresponding face of the mould, supporting a seat area  140  of the metal support  112  which supports the RFID chip  110 . The support bulges  138  can be provided in a number, size, and position which impede the bending of the metal support  112 , and in turn impede breakage of the RFID chip  110 , upon application of the injection pressure. Although the form of support bulges  138  is practical, such supports do not necessarily have to be provided in the form of bulges  138  and can be provided in the form of separate components positioned at the correct positions in the mould, for instance, in alternate embodiments. It will also be noted here that in this specific embodiment, the metal support  112  also has support flanges  142  to help correctly position the RFID chip  110  in the seat area  140 . 
         [0026]    In this specific embodiment, the identification tag  100  combines a number of additional features. One of these is the presence of a broadening V-shape  144  provided at the tips  108   a  and  108   b  of the prongs  104   a  and  104   b,  past the narrower neck portion  118 . This broadening V-shape  144  helps triggering the action of the shaft  14  pushing the prongs  104   a  and  104   b  away from one another as the base  106  is pushed towards the shaft  14  by an external force (the external force can be applied by a hand of a worker for instance). Another one of these is the use of ribs  148  on the lateral edges to provide for a better grip during the action of pushing the base  106  toward the shaft  14  to engage the prongs  104   a  and  104   b.  Such features are optional. 
         [0027]    One challenge associated specifically with the slaughterhouse environment is the resistance to flame. In early designs, the prongs  104   a  and  104   b  had narrower and longer tips  108   a  and  108   b,  and the base  106  had squared corners which tended to burn when exposed to the flames. In the illustrated design, sharp edges and narrow portions are avoided and the resulting shape was found to satisfactorily keep the flames used to burn the hair off the carcasses from interfering with the identification tag  100 . In this embodiment shown, rounded edges  150  can be provided, for instance, to the prongs  104   a  and  104   b.  It is also possible to find satisfactory plastics which resist to cleaning agents which are typically used to disinfect the pulley-mounted hooks  10  between uses with different carcasses, allowing the identification tags  100  to be used multiple times. 
         [0028]    Another embodiment of an identification tag  200  will now be presented with reference to  FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C . For ease of reading, elements of the identification tag  200  that are like elements of the identification tag  100  will bear like reference numbers but in the 200-series. As will be understood, in this embodiment, the prongs  204   a  and  204   b  are provided in the form of extensions of the metal support  212  rather than as extensions of the plastic moulding  216 . Indeed, in an embodiment such as presented with reference to earlier figures, it was found that the plastic material of the prongs  104   a  and  104   b  and radial protrusions  124   a,    124   b  and  124   c  could wear with time, leading to a less secure clipping action where the identification tag  100  could fail to satisfactorily rotate with the shaft  14  after a given amount of wear. It was found that with prongs  204   a  and  204   b  and radial protrusions  224   a,    224   b  and  224   c  made of metal, such as shown in  FIG. 4A , such a wearing effect could be avoided or significantly impeded. Another difference between the embodiment shown in 
         [0029]      FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C  and earlier figures is the fact that a single support bulge  238  is provided in the form of an obround shape. This support bulge  238  was found satisfactory in resisting the bending effect. It will be noted here that the radial protrusion  224   c  of the base  206  is one of three holdings tabs  214   a,    214   b  and  214   c  which are used to secure the metal support  212  in the mould during moulding of the plastic moulding  216  in this embodiment. As shown, the two protrusions  214   a  and  214   c  protrude in a radially-outward direction from the plastic moulding  216  at the base  206  and are spaced apart from one another by a spacing distance  246 . An axial protrusion  228  is provided in the shape of the plastic moulding  216 , to maintain a spacing  232  between the RFID chip  210  and the U or J-shaped frame member  20  of the pulley-mounted hook  10 . In an alternate embodiment, such as shown in  FIG. 5 , the prongs  204   a  and  204   b  can be bended at mid distance from the base to allow the identification tag  200  to be securely received in the pulley-mounted hook  100 . 
         [0030]    Another potential advantage of the configuration shown in  FIGS. 4A, 4B and 4C  is the fact that a single mould can be used to make identification tags  200  for different diameters of pulleys  12 . Indeed, various metal support shapes can be provided, such as two or more support shapes having various prong sizes but the same base and seat shape, such that any one of the sizes can be received in a single mould independently of the length of the prongs which protrudes from the mould. 
         [0031]    As can be understood, the examples described above and illustrated are intended to be exemplary only. For instance, various forms of RF technology can be used in the tag, such as low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF) for instance. Moreover, in alternate embodiments, the identification data can be stored in a substrate other than a RFID chip. Examples of potential alternate substrates could be optically readable substrates or substrates which otherwise react to other frequencies. The substrate can be passive or active. For instance, the substrate can be provided in the form of a computer-readable memory and the identification tag can further house a processor to read the computer readable memory, a power source and an emitter to emit a signal containing the computer-readable memory, for instance. Moreover, in alternate embodiments, the tag can be designed to stay fixed at a given angle rather than rotating with the pulley, as this can be satisfactory in some embodiments. Accordingly, the scope is indicated by the appended claims.