Animal ear tag

• US 6,666,170 B1
• Filed: 06/08/2000
• Issued: 12/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/09/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Allflex New Zealand Limited (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Allflex New Zealand Limited (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Hilpert, Jean-Jacques
• Primary Examiner(s): Poon, Peter M.
• Assistant Examiner(s): OLSZEWSKI, JOAN
• Application Number:
  US09/581,304
• Time in Patent Office: 1,293 Days
• Field of Search: 119/814, 403/01, 406/68, 63/12
• US Class Current: 119/814
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 11/001 Ear-tags

Abstract

An animal ear tag including a female opening through which a head of a stem of a coupling member can pass to effect a coupling action when installing the tag on an animal, the female opening being formed as part of a separate enclosed boss component of hard material, the boss component having a flange extending peripherally from an external surface thereof, the flange being located within resilient material forming a part of the ear tag sized to anchor the boss component to the tag.

Claims

1. An animal tamperproof ear tag including a female opening through which a head of a stem of a coupling member can pass to effect a coupling action when installing the tag on an animal, the female opening being formed as part of a separate enclosed boss of rigid hard moulded material with a thick wail section, the boss being made by a top section and a base section each having a flange extending peripherally from an external surface thereof, said top section having an open end which provides a shoulder, a peripheral wall of the base section engages in the open end in a snug fit with the end of the peripheral wall butted up to said shoulder, the peripheral flanges being mated face to face, said flanges being moulded into the resilient material forming a part of the ear tag so as to anchor said boss to the tag part, wherein the female opening is in the base section, the female opening being of decreasing cross-sectional area from an external part of the boss as it extends into an internal cavity of the boss in which the head can reside after passing through the female opening, said female opening being at least part formed by a plurality of projections which extend inwardly from the exterior of the boss and form at the distal ends thereof a retention surface which, in use, engages with the end of the stem of said coupling member after the head has passed through the female opening, and wherein the internal cavity being in close conformity with the head of the stem.

2. An animal ear tag as claimed in claim 1 wherein the flange includes a plurality of openings.

3. An animal ear tag as claimed in claim 1 wherein, each peripheral flange has a plurality of openings, the openings in the peripheral flanges at least overlapping when the top and base section parts are combined to form the boss.

4. An animal ear tag as claimed in claim 3 wherein one of the top section part and the base section part includes the female opening.

5. An animal ear tag as claimed in claim 3 wherein the openings in at least one of the peripheral flanges are of elongate form.

6. An animal ear tag as claimed in claim 1 wherein the boss and tag part are formed from polyurethane with the boss being formed from a harder grade of polyurethane.

7. An animal ear tag as claimed in claim 1 wherein the hard material of the boss component is a plastic material incorporating fibre reinforcement.