Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
  • A01K11/00—Marking of animals
  • A01K11/005—Branding or tattooing devices for animals
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B22—CASTING; POWDER METALLURGY
  • B22D—CASTING OF METALS; CASTING OF OTHER SUBSTANCES BY THE SAME PROCESSES OR DEVICES
  • B22D17/00—Pressure die casting or injection die casting, i.e. casting in which the metal is forced into a mould under high pressure

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a replaceable marking element for mounting in a hammer for the tattoo-marking of animals, which element comprises needles arranged in a predetermined pattern.
• the producer marks them with a supplier number. This is done by means of a special tattooing hammer with replaceable marking elements, each of which has needles arranged in a pattern corresponding to a figure in the number. Together the figures of the elements form the supplier number.
• the producer first inks the needles on an ink pad and then administers a brief hammer blow to the animal's rump so that the needles penetrate a few millimetres into the animal's epidermis/fat layer and deposit ink in the indentations made.
• the mark must be sufficiently clear and robust to permit the number to be read after the transportation of the animals to the slaughterhouse. However, this is not always the case when too little ink has been deposit in the indentations, e.g. because the producer has not taken care to ink the needles between each marking.
• DK 173.010 Bl (Slagteriernes Forskningsinstitut) describes a tattooing hammer with marking elements, which provides an improved certainty of clear markings, because the marking elements has needles, which are multi-edged at the outermost tapering part intended to be hammered into the animal's skin.
• the needles make bigger openings in the skin than the traditional round needles, so that the markings are more clearly visible.
• DK 169.654 Bl (Slagteriernes Forskningsinstitut) describes an ink pad which is knocked on the needles of the hammer and supplies the needles with ink during the tattooing blows. In this way several tattoo-marking procedures can be performed without the user having to ink the needles between each blow. However, it may be difficult for the pad to supply the indentations with big quantities of ink. Furthermore, there are special tattooing devices with hollow needles arranged in a certain pattern corresponding to a number. Ink is squeezed through the cavity of the needles and out through the tip, so that the indentations made are filled well with ink. These devices are complicated and impossible/difficult to use in the mentioned traditional marking of pigs. Besides, there is a great risk that the needles will clog up, making the tattoo- markings indistinct or illegible.
• the purpose of the invention is to provide a replaceable marking element which, like traditional elements, can be used in a tattooing hammer for marking of pigs by the producer, but the element shall have an improved supply of ink to the indentations formed by the tattooing blow.
• the purpose of the invention is obtained in a marking element which is characterized in that the needles in their side/sides have one or more grooves which run in the longitudinal direction of the needles.
• the needles are designed with one or more grooves in the side/sides it is easier for the ink to flow into the indentations made by the needles in the pig's skin and the ink can better fill up the indentations, especially when the grooves are carried all the way to the narrowing part of the needle at the point.
• the ink can be supplied to the needles by traditional inking of the needles on an ink pad, so that the ink is accumulated in the grooves and is knocked into the indentations in the skin when the blow of the hammer is stopped against the surface of the animal.
• Another possibility is to use an ink pad of the design described in DK 169.654 Bl, by which it will be easier for the ink than by round or edged needles to flow out of the ink pad packed in foil and forwards through the grooves.
• a third possibility is to supply the needles with ink from a reservoir which is connected with the grooves, preferably a reservoir which is located behind the elements, so that the ink is slung forwards by the blow against the animal.
• the use of needles with grooves thus offers many possibilities of improving the distinctness of the tattooing marking in connection with otherwise traditional tattooing hammers.
• needles with grooves as opposed to needles, which are hollow inside, are less likely to clog up. They are easier to manufacture than needles with tubular channels, and each needle can be provided with several grooves. This contributes to reducing the risk of clogging the supply of ink.
• the groove/grooves is/are shaped after a cylinder surface, and the axis of the cylinder is parallel with the centre line of the needle. This makes the manufacture of the elements, e.g. by casting, significant easier.
• the cylinder surface is preferably a cylinder surface of rotation, which enables the use of a mould with pins for the manufacture of the elements.
• the groove/grooves will preferably extend at least to the part of the needle, which narrows towards the point (i.e. to the part which is immediately behind the point).
• the indentations in the animal's skin can be supplied with ink right down to near the bottom.
• One groove in each needle extends preferably to the point of the needle, so that a sharp edge is formed between the surface of the groove and the surface of the narrowing part of the needle. This enables the edge to cut into the animal's skin, so that the indentations become bigger and can contain more ink.
• the depth of one or more grooves from the side towards the centre line of the needle can be smaller than the distance between the side of the needle and the centre line, so the groove ends some distance from the point.
• Each needle can have 1 to 3 grooves.
• the groove/grooves can continue as bores in the part of the element where the needles are fastened, and the bores can continue through the element to the side opposite the needles. This makes it possible to supply the needles with ink from behind.
• the needles can be multi-edged on the part of the needle, which narrows towards the point and is intended to be hammered into the animal's skin, with inclined planes located between adjacent edges.
• the element according to the invention can consist of a cast piece of material wherein the needles and the fixing part for the needles are formed in one piece. This permits mass production of marking elements for the tattoo-marking of animals. Such elements have till now been made by inserting needles in a block.
• the element is manufactured by metal injection moulding technique, which makes it possible to form fine details.
• the needle according to the present invention for a marking element for mounting in a hammer for the tattoo-marking of an animal is characterized in that it has one or more grooves in the side/sides, which grooves run in the longitudinal direction of the needle. Besides, the needles can show one or several of the above-mentioned characteristics.
• the elements according to the invention are used in a tattooing hammer.
• the invention also relates to a hammer for the tattoo-marking of an animal, which hammer comprises a handle and a head with replaceable marking elements with needles arranged in a predetermined pattern, and the hammer is characterized in that it comprises elements according to claim 1.
• the hammer can have a house with a reservoir for ink which house is arranged behind the elements, and the elements can have passages from this reservoir to the grooves. In this way ink can be supplied to the elements from the reservoir behind these.
• the house can be provided on the side opposite the handle with a pushbutton which when actuated towards the house opens a passage to the reservoir. The house can be filled with ink via this passage.
• the reservoir can include a sponge, which is suitable for containing ink.
• the method according to the invention for manufacture of replaceable marking elements for mounting in a hammer for the tattoo-marking of an animal, which elements comprise needles arranged in a predetermined pattern, is characterized in that the elements are manufactured by casting of the needles and the fixing part for the needles in one piece by means of a mould which in the side/sides of the needles form one or more grooves which run in the longitudinal direction of the needles.
• the elements can be manufactured by metal injection moulding technique.
• the grooves can be made by means of parallel cylindrical pins in the mould.
• Fig. la shows an embodiment of a marking element according to the invention, seen in perspective from above,
• - Fig. 2a shows a needle from the element, seen in perspective from one side
• - Fig. 2b shows the needle, seen in perspective from the other side
• Fig. 3 shows another embodiment of a needle for a marking element
• FIG. 4a shows an embodiment of a marking hammer according to the invention
• Fig. 4b shows the head of the hammer seen in sectional view.
• the marking element in Figs, la- lb comprises needles 1, which are arranged in a pattern so that they form an "0" on the element.
• each needle has a wide groove 2, which goes deep into the needle and extends all the way to the point 3 of the needle.
• a sharp edge 4 In the borderline between the surface of the groove and the outside surface of the needle is a sharp edge 4, which is suitable for cutting into the skin surface of a pig when a tattooing hammer with such needles is blown against the behind of the animal.
• the groove 2 has the shape of a cylindrical surface of rotation, the axis of which is parallel 5 with the centre line of the needle. Therefore, the groove can be shaped by a pin placed in the mould, which is used for the manufacture of the element.
• the groove 2 continues all the way down to the fixing part of the needle in the element, which in Figs. 2a-2b is illustrated by a circle 5.
• the groove continues in the element as a 10 bore 6, which goes through the wall 7 of the element.
• the bore opens on the other side of the wall into an opening 8, which can be seen in Fig. lb. In this way, the groove 2 can be supplied with ink through the bore 6 in the wall 7.
• a 15 corresponding, but narrower groove 9 (Fig. 2b), which extends some distance into the part, which narrows towards the point 3 of the needle without extending all the way to the point.
• the groove run down to the fixing part 5 of the needle in the element, continues as a bore 10 through the wall 7 of the element and ends in an opening 11 (Fig. lb) on the side of the wall 7 which is opposite the needles. In this way, the groove 9 can be supplied with 20 ink from this opening.
• the element in Figs, la-lb is provided with four side walls 12, 13, 14, 15, which together with the wall 7 form a cavity which permits supply of ink to the openings 8, 11 from the side of the element opposite the needles 1.
• the element can be fastened to the head of a tattooing hammer.
• the element is manufactured by metal injection moulding technique, so that the needles are designed in one piece with the rest of the element. Other manufacturing techniques can be used.
• the grooves 2, 9 stop at the fixing part 5 of the needles in the element, i.e. there are no bores through the wall 7 as an extension of the grooves.
• This embodiment can be used when ink is to be supplied to the needles in the traditional way by hammering them into an inkpad, or when they are to be supplied with ink from an inkpad, which is placed on the needles.
• the needles and the element need not be manufactured in one piece.
• the needles can be manufactured separately with a mounting pin, which is suitable for fixing them in corresponding bores in a block or the like.
• the needles and the rest of the element preferably consist of metal.
• the embodiment of a needle shown in Fig. 3 has a part narrowing towards the point 23 of the needle with three sharp edges 24, which end in the point.
• the grooves 22 extend down to the fixing part 25 of the needle and they can stop there or, if desired, continue into bores 26 in the element, which correspond with openings on the side of the element opposite the needles.
• the needles can be manufactured in one piece with the rest of the element or they can be manufactured separately and then mounted e.g. in a metal block.
• the tattooing hammer in Figs. 4a-4b has five elements 30 of the construction shown in Fig. la- lb with needles 31 whose grooves can be supplied with ink through bores that open into openings in the side of the element opposite the needles.
• the supplier number is "00000" on the hammer shown, but in practice it will of course be another number corresponding to the number assigned to the pig producer.
• the head can include elements with letter combinations, e.g. a country code.
• the elements are fixed to the hammerhead, which has the shape of a house 32, by means of two flanges 33, 34.
• a block shaped sponge 35 to hold ink.
• One wall of the house consists of two plates, which squeeze resiliently against each other.
• On the inside plate 36 is a pushbutton 37, which protrudes through a hole in the outside plate 38.
• the sponge 35 can be filled with ink by inserting the hammerhead in a container with ink and pressing it down against the bottom, so that an opening is formed between the plates.
• the pressure on the button is loosened, ink will be sucked into the house. After being pushed down against the bottom a few times the house is filled and the head can again be pulled up from the container. The opening of the house is in that way closed automatically, and the hammer is ready for use.
• the hammer is then used in the same way as a traditional tattooing hammer, apart from the fact that it is not necessary to ink the needles on an inkpad between each blow.
• the head is swung against the behind of a pig so that the needles penetrate the skin and deposit ink in the indentations formed by the needles.
• the special feature of this hammer is that the indentations are supplied with ink far down into the indentations, since the ink by the impact of the hammer against the surface of the animal is slung out of the sponge, towards the holes 8, 11 in the side of the elements opposite the needles, through the bores 6, 10 in the elements and further along the grooves 2, 9 in the needles 1 to the end of the grooves at the narrowing part of the needles, where ink is deposit on the sides of the indentations.
• the cutting edges 4 of the needles help making the indentations open, so that they can hold much ink.
• the inside of the hammer can be cleaned.
• the pushbutton is pushed all the way through the hole in the outside plate 38, so that the piece 36 can be removed and the sponge 35 taken out.
• the needles and bores of the elements can now be cleaned.
• a water hose is connected with a pipe stub 39 on the handle of the hammer and the water is turned on, allowing a flow of water to run through a cavity in the handle and the shaft into the interior of the house 32 and further on through the many bores 6, 10 in the elements, and from there away along the grooves 2, 9 of the needles, by which impurities or accumulations of ink are rinsed away.
• the grooves 2, 9 must be supplied with ink from the front of the head (and the elements need not have through-bores).
• the needles can be supplied with ink by being hammered into an inkpad, by which the grooves will be filled with ink, which will subsequently be slung into the indentations formed by the hammer blow against the animal.
• Another way of supplying the needles with ink is to place an inkpad of the type described in DK 169.654 Bl on the needles.
• the ink will be slung out of the inkpad and through the grooves in the needles into the indentations.
• the plastic foil which surrounds the inkpad cannot enter the grooves, the ink will pass fairly unimpeded by the otherwise tight-fitting foil.

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• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Environmental Sciences (AREA)
• Birds (AREA)
• Zoology (AREA)
• Animal Husbandry (AREA)
• Biodiversity & Conservation Biology (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Infusion, Injection, And Reservoir Apparatuses (AREA)
• Percussive Tools And Related Accessories (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=8160604

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

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Family Cites Families (5)

• 2001
  • 2001-07-04 DK DK200101051A patent/DK174182B1/da not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2002
  • 2002-06-27 WO PCT/DK2002/000431 patent/WO2003003821A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2002-06-27 EP EP02748626A patent/EP1406486A1/en not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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