Abstract:
A livestock tag locking system device, including a male component ( 1 ) and a female component ( 8 ), wherein the male component ( 1 ) has a face ( 3 ) onto which indicia may be applied and a stem ( 4 ) equipped with a tip ( 5 ). The stem ( 4 ) is made of a relatively soft plastic material and the tip ( 5 ) is made of a relatively hard plastic material. The female component has a cup portion ( 11 ) equipped with a retaining ring ( 14 ). The cup portion ( 11 ) is made of a relatively soft plastic material and the retaining ring ( 14 ) is made of a relatively hard plastic material.

Description:
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/175,670, filed Oct. 20, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,385,877. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present relates to a livestock tag locking system in accordance with the preamble of claim 1 hereinbelow. The invention also relates to a male component of a livestock tag locking system according to the preamble of claim 2 and a female component of a livestock tag locking system according to the preamble in claim 6. 
     Livestock tags of this kind have become widespread, especially in those countries which have a so-called industrial livestock production. In these countries such tags have all but completely replaced the previous conventional marking which was carried out by cutting a notch in the animal&#39;s ear or cutting away a small piece thereof, thereby permitting identification of the animal&#39;s owner. The earlier branding widely used in some countries is also well on the way to being replaced by livestock tags. The livestock tags are produced in a number of different colours and shapes, which facilitates identification even at a distance. 
     The livestock tags are not only capable of being used to identify the owner of the animal, but are also used increasingly to identify the actual individual animal, so that it is possible to keep a record of the course of the individual animal&#39;s life, such as disease, vaccination etc. Recently, there has been an escalation of demands that it should be possible to trace meat from the livestock producer to the meat counter and back to the individual animal. This is particularly important should there be something wrong with the meat, such as an unduly high bacteria content, residual medicines or the discovery, after the animal has been slaughtered and the meat has found its way into the shops, that there is environmental pollution in the area where the animal has grazed. 
     Livestock tagging has thus become increasingly important vis-à-vis the quality of the meat. If a trace-back system of this kind is to work in a reliable manner such tags must be tamper-proof. With the previously known tags it has been possible to remove a tag from one animal in order then to fit this tag to another animal, which for some reason or another, e.g., disease or recent use of medicines, should not have been sent to slaughter. Having in mind the enormous sums that could be involved in any loss suffered by a producer if he is unable to obtain the expected price for the animal, it is obvious that for some it must be tempting to tamper with the livestock tagging. 
     In the EU and EEA area new tagging regulations have been introduced which require such livestock tags to be manipulation-proof. This means that once a tag has been fitted it must not be possible to remove it and fit it to another animal. Furthermore, it is a requirement that the force needed to separate the two tag components must be at least 30 kg, and when the connection between the two tag halves gives, they must be deformed or damaged, thereby rendering them unfit for reuse. This should be the case even after the tag has been worn by the animal for five to six years. 
     Examples of known livestock tags are taught in EP 56533, EP 105796, EP 123506, EP 177201, EP 212885, DK 163094, FR 2412258, FR 2533802, FR 2550915, FR 2569944, FR 2577380, FR 2578713 and FR 2635437. 
     Moreover, it has been presented as desirable to be able to recycle the material of the livestock tags after the animal has been slaughtered. Most of the livestock tags known to date involve the use of a metal spike to facilitate the piercing of the animal&#39;s ear and/or a metal disc in the female component. This metal spike and the disc cause problems when the tag is to be destroyed or recycled. Before the plastic can be ground up the metal must be removed, making destruction or recycling highly unprofitable. It is therefore a further object of the invention to produce a livestock tag which does not have any metal parts, but where the whole tag consists of plastic, which preferably is also a plastic that can be used as animal feed, alone or mixed with another feed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The aforementioned objects are achieved by means of a livestock tag locking system in accordance with the characterising clause of claim 1 hereinbelow, the male component of a livestock tag locking system according to the characterising clause of claim 2 and the female component of a livestock tag locking system according to the characterising clause of claim 6. 
     The dependent claims disclose advantageous embodiments of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The present invention will be described in more detail with the aid of an exemplary embodiment of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 a  shows a male component of a livestock tag seen from the outside; 
     FIG. 1 b  shows the tag according to FIG. 1 a  in section from the side; 
     FIG. 1 c  shows the tag according to FIG. 1 a  seen from the inside; 
     FIG. 2 a  shows a female component of a livestock tag seen from the inside; 
     FIG. 2 b  shows the female component according to FIG. 2 a  in section from the side; 
     FIG. 2 c  shows the female component according to FIG. 2 a  seen from the outside; 
     FIG. 3 shows a section through an assembled livestock tag; 
     FIG. 4 shows a detail of the piercing member of the male component; 
     FIG. 5 shows a detail of the receiving member of the female component; 
     FIG. 6 shows the tip of the male component from in front; 
     FIG. 7 shows a section through the tip along the line VIII—VIII; 
     FIG. 8 shows the tip seen from the side; 
     FIG. 9 shows the ring of the female component in plan view; 
     FIG. 10 shows the ring of the female component in a section along the line X—X; and 
     FIG. 11 shows the ring of the female component in plan view, seen in the opposite direction of that shown in FIG.  9 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     As used in this description, the terms “the outside” and “the inside” refer to the tag when it has been fitted to an animal, where “the inside” faces in towards the animal&#39;s ear and “the outside” faces away from the animal&#39;s ear. The term “from in front” refers to a direction looking towards the narrowest end of the tip. The “side” of the livestock tag, the male component or the female component is that side which is at right angles to the outside and the inside and is substantially parallel to an axis extending along the longest dimension of the tag. 
     FIG. 1 shows a male component  1  of a livestock tag according to the invention, wherein FIG. 1 a  shows the male component seen from the outside, FIG. 1 b  shows a section through the male component, and FIG. 1 c  shows the male component seen from the inside. The male component  1  consists essentially of a panel portion  2  and a piercing portion  3 , which is designed to be passed through the cartilage of the animal&#39;s ear. On the outside of the panel portion  2  there is provided a surface  3  for the application of information, such as the identification number of the individual animal, the owner and so forth. The piercing portion  3  comprises a stem  4  and a tip  5 . The stem  4  has an eccentric bore  6  which continues in a bore  7  in the tip. The bore  7  is closed at one end in the tip  5 . The bores  6  and  7  are designed to receive a tip portion of a applicator, e.g., pliers especially made for the purpose of fitting livestock tags. 
     FIG. 2 shows a female component  8  for interaction with the male component  1  of FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 2 a  shows the female component  8  seen from the inside, FIG. 2 b  shows the female component  8  seen in section, and FIG. 2 c  shows the female component  8  seen from the outside. The female component  8  also comprises a panel portion  9  on which a surface  10  may also be defined for the application of information. This information may be a duplicate of the information on the face  3  of the male component  1  or may be other information about the animal, its owner etc. Furthermore, the female component comprises a receiving member or cup portion  11  equipped with a is bore  12  for receiving the piercing portion  3 . The bore  12  is closed at one end towards the bottom  13  of the cup. A ring  14  is embedded in the female component  8  at the opening  15  of the cup portion  11 . 
     The male component  1  and the female component  8  are designed to be placed on their respective sides of the animal&#39;s ear. 
     FIG. 3 shows the livestock tag once assembled, wherein the male component  1  has been inserted by means of its piercing portion  3  into the cup portion  11  of the female component  8 . The connection of the two components will be explained in more detail below. 
     FIG. 4 shows the piercing portion  3  in more detail. As mentioned above, the piercing portion  3  comprises a stem  4  equipped with a bore  6  and a tip  5 . The tip  5  is also equipped with a bore  7 , which is concentric with the bore  6 . The tip  5  is made of a plastic material which is relatively hard, whilst the stem  4  and the rest of the male component  1  are made of a relatively flexible plastic material. Through the tip  5  there is formed a plurality of channels  16 , into which the plastic material of the stem  4  can penetrate during the moulding of the tag. This will be explained in more detail with reference to FIGS. 7-9. The largest cross-section of the tip  5  is greater than the cross-section of the stem  4 , so that a shoulder  17  is formed at the rear end of the tip. 
     FIG. 5 shows the receiving member or cup portion  11  of the female component  8  in more detail. The cup portion  11  is also equipped with a bore  12  extending from the opening  15  of the cup portion  11  to the cup bottom  13 . A retaining ring  14  is provided at the opening  15  of the cup portion. The function of the retaining ring  14  is to retain the tip  5  when this has been inserted into the cup portion  11 , as indicated in broken lines. The shoulder  17  of the tip  5  rests against a front face  18  on the ring  14 . The internal diameter of the ring  14  is smaller than the largest external diameter of the tip  5 , but since the ring  14  consists of a plastic material which despite exhibiting a certain rigidity also exhibits a certain elasticity, the ring  14  will be bent somewhat when the tip  5  is inserted therethrough. 
     The cup portion  11  is also equipped with a plurality of ribs (see FIGS. 2 c  and  5 ) evenly distributed around the internal circumference of the cup portion  11 . The cup bottom  13  is secured to the ribs  26 , thereby forming openings  27  (see FIGS. 2 c  and  5 ) is in the cup bottom  13  between the ribs  26 . 
     FIGS. 6,  7  and  8  show the tip in more detail. As can be seen from FIG. 5, the tip in this case is equipped with five channels  16  extending from the shoulder or back edge  17  of the tip  5  to its conical front surface  19 . The channels  16  have their smallest cross-section close to the rear edge  17  of the tip  5  and become wider towards the conical surface  19 . When the male component  1  is to be produced, the tip  5  is moulded first in a suitable plastic material, and the remaining part of the male component  1 , the panel  2  and the stem  4  are moulded together with the tip  5 . The material which is to constitute the stem  4  then flows through the channels  16 . The material of the tip  5  and the material of the stem  4  are preferably so adapted to one another that good bonding is obtained between them at the contiguous faces in the channels  16 . Thus, the bonding will take place primarily on the walls of the channels  16 . The total area of these walls is very large in comparison with the diameter of the tip  5 . The bonding between the material of the tip and the material of the stem  4  will therefore be good. In addition a physical locking between the tip  5  and the stem  4  will also take place as the outer cross section of the channels is greater than the inner cross-section thereof. 
     Despite the large bonding area, however, the total cross-sectional area of the channels  16  at the rear edge  17 , and thus also the cross-section of the stem  4  in the same area will be smaller than the cross-section of the stem  4  otherwise. The weakest point of the piercing portion  3  will therefore be in the junction between the stem  4  and the channels  16 . If sufficient tension is exerted on the male component  1  after the piercing portion  3  has been inserted into the cup portion  11 , the piercing portion  3  will therefore give at the junction area between the stem  4  and the tip  5 . When adjusting the cross-section in this area it is therefore possible to set by design a specific breaking strength, which according to the regulations must be at least 30 kg. Breaks will not occur at any other point unless a cutting tool is used. 
     FIGS. 9,  10  and  11  show a ring  14  for embedment in the cup portion  11 . The ring  14  comprises a plurality of projections  20  distributed evenly around the circumference of the inward facing (towards the animal&#39;s ear) face of the ring, a cylindrical ring portion  21  extending radially inwards from the projections  20  and a conical ring portion  22  extending obliquely inwards in the axial direction of the ring  14 . The projections  20  are designed to hold the ring portion spaced apart from the surface  23  of the cup portion  11  (see FIG. 5) when the retaining ring  14  is to be moulded together with the cup portion  11 . The retaining ring  14  thus lies completely encased by the cup portion  11 , with the exception of one surface of the projections  20 . The ring portion  22 , will, when the tip is pressed therethrough, because the tip  5  has a largest external diameter greater than the internal diameter of the ring  14 , be pressed outwards relative to the ring portion  21 . The cup portion  11  will, with the plastic material  24  that is outside the ring portion  22 , seek to counter this bending motion. When the tip  5  has been passed right through the retaining ring  14 , the material  24  will help to press the ring portion  22  back to its starting position. 
     The retaining ring  14  is also equipped with a plurality of projections  25  distributed evenly along the outer circumference of the ring portion  22  (see FIGS.  10  and  11 ). The projections  25  help, in the same way as the projections  20 , to position the ring in the cup portion  11 . The plastic material which constitutes the cup portion can flow between the projections  20 , and the ring  14  will therefore be almost completely encased by the plastic material of the cup portion. 
     The tip  5  and the retaining ring  14  are preferably made of the same rigid, hard material. The other parts of the male component  1  and the female component  8  are made of another considerably more flexible plastic material. 
     Should an attempt be made to separate the male component  1  from the female component  8  after they have been brought together, this would not be possible without both the male component  1  and the female component  8  being rendered unfit for reuse. An attempt to pull the components apart, which would call for the use of a tool as the breaking strength is as great as at least 30 kg, would result in the stem  4  breaking at the junction with the channels  16  in the tip  5 . The tip  5  would remain in the cup portion  11  and would not be capable of being passed through the retaining ring  14 , as the ring portion  22  would function as a barb. It is true that a hole could be made in the bottom  13  of the cup portion  11 , but it would not be possible to close this hole so as to conceal the fact that the tag has been tampered with. An attempt to press the tip  5  out of the cup portion  11  and through the retaining ring  14  by exerting pressure on the bottom  13  of the cup portion  11  from the outside would result firstly in damage to the bottom  13  of the cup portion  11 , whose connection with the cup portion  11  has otherwise been weakened on account of the openings  27 , and also in damage to the tip  5 , as the plastic material, although relatively hard, will not be capable of withstanding such strain. Another way of trying to separate the two components is to clip or cut through the ring  14 , so that the tip  5  can be pulled therethrough or passed sideways out through the incision in the cup portion  11 . However, the female component must then be abandoned and the tip  5  and/or the stem  4  would also probably be damaged. Damage to these could result in it being impossible to put the male component in the tag pliers and it being difficult to pierce the animal&#39;s ear with the piercing portion  3 . Moreover, there would be no female component to receive the piercing portion. 
     There are therefore no known ways in which to separate the two components without it being clearly visible that the tag components have been tampered with. At the same time recycling of the tag material is fully possible, since the entire tag consists of plastic which can be readily recycled or destroyed in a convenient manner.