GB2234150A - Animal marking instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

An instrument 1 is in the form of a hand-held double action pistol including a spring-loaded needle carrier 2 located at a forward end of a firing barrel 3. Finger trigger 4 may be operated to "fire" the pistol 1 which, in use, propels tattooing needles 2a through a sachet (hold in mounting frame 5) and into an animal's ear. The sachet contains tattooing ink or paste which is picked up by the needles N as they penetrate the sachet, and thus the ink or paste is carried into the animal's ear. The needles pass completely through the ear and are automatically withdrawn rapidly by the spring action of the spring- loaded needle carrier 2. <IMAGE>

Description

ANIMAL MARKING INSTRUMENT This invention relates to an animal marking instrument having tattooing needles which are driven into a part of an animal (for example the ear) in order to mark the animal, said needles being used in conjunction with a tattooing paste or the like to leave an indelible mark.

The problems involved in quickly and reliably marking or tagging an animal (for example greyhounds or cattle) are not new and invariably whatever instrument or method is used there tend to be certain drawbacks or disadvantages. Some of the first methods for marking greyhounds involved the use of hand-held calipers to puncture the ear. Such calipers are slow and not easy to use and can by crushing cause a considerable amount of distress and pain for the animal. Additionally, the method of marking the animal involves smearing a tattooing ink paste onto the ear (usually prior to puncturing the ear with the calipers) and is often quite a messy operation. Such calipers or similar instruments tend to have other numerous disadvantages which are well known.Other spring or air powered instruments have been proposed but these still present problems in being able to quickly, reliably, safely, repeatedly, and generally painlessly mark an animal with seemingly a minimum amount of fuss and mess.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an animal marking instrument which at least alleviates one of the aforementioned or other disadvantages of previous instruments.

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an animal marking instrument in the form of a pistol having tattooing needles movably mounted at one end of a firing barrel of the pistol on a needle carrier, which needles, in use, are propelled through a sachet containing a tattooing dye or paste before penetrating a part of the animal to be marked, said instrument having means for holding the sachet relative to the needles during said penetration, said means allowing rapid removal of the sachet after use for replacement by a new unused sachet.

In one embodiment, the means for holding the sachet is fixed relative to the firing barrel but in an alternative embodiment said means may comprise a slidable spring-loaded holder which may be biassed into contact with a part of the animal in use. The instrument may be utilised with an anvil for use in marking an animal's ear (for example a greyhound or pig's ear) or without an anvil for marking any appropriate area of the body of an animal (e.g. a cow). The instrument may be provided with a detachable anvil. Said means for holding the sachet and said anvil may be detachable from the instrument as a unit.

The arrangement may be such that the needles are automatically cleaned on retraction from the sachet, for example by the engagement of a punctured rearward wall part of the sachet with the needles, so that the needles are wiped clean on withdrawal from the sachet wall.

The sachet may be of a basic transparent plastics construction with, for example, an outer cardboard frame which slots into said sachet holder means. It is envisaged that the sachet will be replaced on each occasion an animal is marked, although this need not necessarily be the case.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an animal marking instrument in the form of a hand-held double-action pistol, said pistol having an overhead, pivotable cocking lever which is pivoted from a first rest position generally parallel with a firing barrel of the pistol to a second, cocking position in which the pistol is ready for firing, the arrangement being such that on firing of the pistol a needle carrier having tattooing needles is propelled in such manner that the needles penetrate a part of an animal to be marked.

The needle carrier is, preferably, spring loaded by spring means and preferably, the spring means extends within the firing barrel itself or at least not beyond the radial dimension of the barrel, in order to provide a neat instrument. In one embodiment, cocking the pistol retracts a piston against a spring biasing force, and firing the pistol rapidly moves the piston along the firing barrel under the action of said spring biassing force (preferably in a forward direction). The piston may thus strike the needle carrier and thereby propel the carrier forwardly against biassing provided by said spring means, usually as far as stop means. In such position, the needles will have penetrated a part of an animal to be marked and the needles will then be returned to the uncocked position by the action of said spring means.

The pistol is, preferably, provided with a guide attachment which guides the needle carrier during said propulsion. Said attachment may be screw-threadably engaged on the firing barrel. The attachment and the firing barrel may, advantageously, provide a housing for a stem portion of the needle carrier which is slidably guided in a receiving hole of said attachment (said hole, preferably, being coaxial with the firing barrel). An internally stepped sleeve may receive said spring means and stem and be fixed in the firing barrel on assembly of the guide attachment thereto.

Advantageously, the needle carrier may be provided with a dovetail slot or the like which receives needle blocks (in which the needles are mounted) having a matching cross section. Advantages in the design and retention of the blocks in said slot should be apparent from the description which follows later.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided an animal marking instrument in the form of a hand-held double-action pistol, said pistol having cocking means to cock the pistol by retracting a piston reciprocatable in a firing barrel of the pistol, and having a finger trigger which is pivotable or reciprocatable to fire the pistol, the finger trigger being engageable by a forefinger of the hand whilst a butt of the pistol is gripped by the thumb and the remainder of the hand, the arrangement being such that on firing of the pistol, by pressing the finger trigger with the forefinger, a needle carrier mounted at a forward end of the firing barrel and having tattooing needles is propelled by said piston in such manner that the needles penetrate a part of an animal to be marked.

The pistol may be provided with features previously discussed in relation to the first two aspects of the invention.

Still further according to the present invention there is provided an animal marking instrument comprising a hand-held double-action pistol, said pistol having cocking means (preferably provided by an overhead cocking lever) to cock the pistol against the action of a spring biassing force, which cocking action simultaneously preferably allows back, from a first position, a needle carrier along a guide or slide attached to a gun barrel of said pistol, to a second, ready-for-use position, said pistol having a pivotable trigger piece and on actuation of said trigger piece after cocking of the pistol (thus on firing the pistol), the needle carrier is urged outwardly from the gun barrel beyond said first position under the action of said spring biassing force and in use, said needles are arranged to rapidly penetrate and to be rapidly withdrawn from a part of an animal to be marked positioned adjacent to marking needles of said needle carrier, said needle carrier being returned to said first position under the action of spring means, the extent of travel of the needle carrier and thus the depth of penetration of the needles into said animal part being limited by stop means, said pistol, preferably, having a sachet of tattooing ink located in between the needles of the needle carrier and said part of the animal to be marked, the arrangement being such that on firing of the pistol the needles penetrate said sachet and carry ink therefrom into said part of the animal on penetration of said animal part by the needles, said needles being wiped clean again on withdrawal from the sachet.

Many other advantageous features of the present invention will be evident from the following description and drawings.

An embodiment of an animal marking instrument in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying simplified drawings in which: FIGURE 1 shows a part sectional view of the instrument in a cocked position; FIGURE 2 shows a cut-away part sectional view of the instrument, which view is similar to FIGURE 1 but in the uncocked position; FIGURE 3 shows a plan view of one end of the instrument (with cocking lever omitted for ease of illustration) looking in direction of arrow A in FIGURE 2; FIGURE 4 is a view taken on line IV-IV of FIGURE 1; FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a needle block of the instrument.

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 of an earlier prototype of the instrument, FIGURE 7 is an underside view of the front end of the instrument shown in FIGURE 6 looking in the direction of Arrow B, FIGURES 8a, 8b show front elevational and sectional side views of a sachet for use with the animal marking instrument.

Referring to FIGURES 1 to 5, an animal marking instrument 1 is fashioned in the form of a hand-held double action pistol with a spring-loaded needle carrier 2 located at a forward end (the right hand end as shown in FIGURE 1) of a pistol firing barrel 3. FIGURE 1 shows the cocked position of the instrument 1 and if the instrument is fired in this position by squeezing pivotable finger trigger 4, tattooing needles 2a are propelled through a sachet (see FIGURES 8a and 8b) held in means 5 in the form of a mounting frame, and then into an animal's ear, positioned between frame 5 and anvil pad 6. The sachet contains a tattooing ink dye or paste which is picked up by the needles 2a as they penetrate the sachet, and carried into the animal's ear tissues on puncturing.The needles 2a puncture the animal's ear and pass completely therethrough and are automatically withdrawn quickly by the spring action of the springloaded needle carrier 2 so that the whole tattooing operation is quick and relatively painless for the animal. The needles 2a are effectively wiped clean again as they are withdrawn from the sachet by the action of the needles rubbing against the plastics material of the first punctured (rear) wall part of the sachet.

This automatic wiping clean of the needles 2a is advantageous since it alleviates the amount of mess which can be caused by the tattooing ink or paste. It alleviates an unsightly build-up of a tattooing ink deposit on the needles, and should provide a reduced risk of the user or surroundings being splattered with ink.

It is envisaged that the sachet will be replaced as and when required. To minimise mess, preferably, the sachet is replaced each time an animal part is marked.

The instrument 1 has an overhead cocking lever 7 which, as shown, extends parallel with, and along the top of, the barrel 3 and is pivotally attached to the rear of the instrument at X. FIGURE 2 shows the position of the various components of the instrument 1 just prior to cocking, which cocking operation is done by gripping lever 7 near the free end thereof, and pulling upwardly and rearwardly in the direction of arrow Y (see FIGURE 2) to pivot the lever about location X.

The instrument 1 is similar to a Webley air pistol and indeed first prototypes were made by modifying such an air pistol. In modifying the Webley pistol, the cocking lever thereof is turned around so as to pivot from a location at the rear of the pistol (location X) rather than from a location at the front end of the barrel, and the cocking lever itself no longer functions as a firing barrel. FIGURES 6 and 7 show an early prototype in accordance with the present invention which has been constructed using parts of a Webley pistol.

FIGURES 6 and 7 will be discussed later.

In any event the use of a cocking lever 7 to cock the instrument 1 is extremely advantageous due to the increased mechanical advantage provided. A significant amount of force is required to obtain the required rapid reciprocating action of the needles N and without the use of such a lever the instrument may be much more difficult to cock.

The instrument 1 has a butt 8 which is gripped by the hand with a forefinger on the trigger 4, which trigger co-operates with spring-loaded sear 9 as is common in air pistols. The instrument 1 has a tubular, spring-biassed piston 10 which can be drawn back from the position shown in FIGURE 2 to that in FIGURE 1 when the instrument is cocked, by way of lever 7. Lever 7 has a shaped hand-grip 7a, which is received in a spring clip 11 (see FIGURES 3 and 4) mounted at the front end of the barrel 3.Lever 7 is attached to a cocking slide member 13 via linkage 12, so that as the lever 7 is pivoted in the direction of arrow Y, connecting members of the linkage 13 pivot about pivot pins P1, P2, P3 in order to pull slide member 12 rearwardly, since member 13 is constrained to forward and rearward movement along narrow slot 14, which slot is fashioned in the upper part of barrel 3 and extends in the longitudinal direction thereof. Slot 14 extends from the rear of the instrument 1 for about half the length of the barrel. Slide member 13 extends through slot 14 and, during cocking, engages the annular rim 10a of the rearward end lOb of piston 10, said end having a radial dimension corresponding with the bore of the barrel 3. The piston 10 is retracted by the slide member 12 engaging rim 10a as the lever 7 is pivoted about pivot location X.Piston 10 is spring biassed in a forward direction by a relatively powerful close-coiled, helical compression spring S mounted within the tubular piston and supported on a spigot 15 which is fixed at the rear of the pistol 1 and which extends into, and is arranged co-axially with, the piston. The spring S fits snugly onto the spigot 15 and into the piston 10.

Retraction of the piston 10 against the biassing force provided by spring S is made relatively easy by pivoting lever 7, and is continued until an internal conical end face lOc of the piston engages a forward end 15a of the spigot 15, which end 15a acts as a stop. In this position, detent or catch member d provided on a lower part of a smaller diameter section lOd of piston 10 is held back by sear 9, so that on release of the lever 7, the piston is prevented from being moved forwards under the action of spring S. Lever 7 is then returned to the position as shown in FIGURE 1 where grip 7a is reintroduced into spring clip 11. The instrument 1 is then ready for firing by squeezing trigger 4, which in turn frees sear 9 in known manner thus allowing the piston 10 to move rapidly forwardly along the barrel 3 under the action of spring S.

At the forward end of firing barrel 3 is mounted a guide attachment 16 for slidably guiding the needle carrier 2. The clip 11 is provided at the top of the guide attachment 16. The forward end of barrel 3 is provided with an external screw thread 3a which mates with an internal thread 16a on guide attachment 16. An internally stepped sleeve 17 is introduced into the open end 3a of the firing barrel until an annular flange 17a, of greater diameter than the internal bore of barrel 3, rests on the annular end face of barrel 3. Sleeve 17 fits snugly in barrel 3 and is locked in position by the guide attachment 16 as it is screwed onto the end 3a of barrel 3. Once the guide attachment 16 has been screwed fully onto the end 3a a grub screw 18, located on the bottom of the attachment 16 (see FIGURES 1 and 2) can be tightened to securely retain the attachment 16 on the firing barrel.The attachment 16 has a cylindrical hole 16b positioned co-axially with the barrel 3 and sleeve 17, and hole 16b together with the sleeve 17 slidably receive the needle carrier 2.

Needle carrier 2 has a cylindrical middle portion 2a snugly received in hole 16b around which is located a second spring means in the form of a close-coiled helical compression spring 19. Spring 19 is retained on the middle portion 2a by detachable end piece 2b having an external diameter matching the outside diameter of spring 19 and the internal diameter of the forward part of sleeve 17. End piece 2b is attached to the middle portion 2a by headed screw 20 (see FIGURES 1 and 2).

Sleeve 17 has a rearward internal reduced diameter portion 17b which provides a back stop for end piece 2b and hence for the carrier 2.

As shown in FIGURE 2, the piston 10 has a forward portion 10d of reduced diameter which matches the internal diameter of portion 17b of sleeve 17. In the uncocked position portion 10d extends through portion 17b into contact with the head of screw 20, thereby urging the needle carrier 2 in a forward direction against the biassing provided by spring 19. In this position, a rectangular flange (which carries needle blocks B1 to B4) is pushed free of the adjacent end surface E of the attachment 16 against which it rests when the pistol is in the cocked position (compare FIGURES 1 and 2).

When the instrument 1 is cocked, lever 7 is pivoted about arrow Y from the position shown in FIGURE 2, needle carrier 2 moves rearwardly a small amount under the action of spring 19, until flange 2c contacts end E of the guide attachment 16.

In the cocked position, end piece 2b of the needle carrier engages portion 17b of sleeve 17. On firing of the instrument 1, the piston 10 moves rapidly forwards and the forward end 10d hits the head of screw 20 and propels the needle carrier rapidly forwards whilst being slidably guided in hole 16b of guide attachment 16. The needles 2a mounted in needle blocks B1 to B4 (see FIGURES 4 and 5) and received in a dove-tail slot s in the carrier 2, puncture the sachet held in the frame 15 and pass through an ear of an animal (not shown) positioned in between the frame 5 and anvil pad 6. Once the ear has been punctured, the lower portion of flange 2c of needle carrier 2 hits a front stop 5a formed by a lower rearward mounting portion of the frame 5, and is immediately and rapidly returned to the position as shown in FIGURE 2 under the action of spring 19.Frame 5 is mounted to the guide attachment 16 in a manner which should be obvious from the drawings (see FIGURES 1,2 and 3) by screws S' which pass through base 16c of guide attachment 16 into mounting portion 5a of frame 5. Thus frame 5 is releasably fixed to the attachment 16. Anvil pad 6 is fixed in place as shown in an upwardly projecting end part of anvil 16d of attachment 16. Anvil 16d is attached to the remainder of the guide attachment 16 by means of two knurled-head screws W. As a modification the anvil pad 6 and upwardly projecting end part could be made as detachable from the remainder of attachment 16 leaving frame 5 on the attachment 16 if the instrument is to be used, for example on the body of an animal, rather than on an ear or the like. Anvil pad 6 and anvil 16d would be detached for use with tattooing cattle rather than for use in tattooing a greyhound's ear.

Additionally or alternatively, the frame 5 could be slidably adjustable along the direction of movement of the needle carrier (see FIGURES 6 and 7).

Importantly, and advantageously, as previously stated the needles N are provided on a series of mounting blocks B1 -B4 having a cross-section which co-operates with that of the dovetail slot s. One or more blocks B1 to B4 having a particular matrix of needles corresponding to a particular symbol to be tattooed on the animal are slid into the slot s from either side thereof. In order to insert needle block B4 into slot s in the direction of arrow Z (see FIGURE 4) spring loaded plunger P has to be depressed to move stop t below the slot s to allow free slidable access of the block B4 along the slot s up until fixed pin projection p. On release of the plunger P, stop t returns into the slot s to hold the block B4 against movement along the slot in either direction.

Further blocks B1 to B3 can be inserted in the slot s in the direction of arrow Z' once locking plate L has been removed by moving knurled screw K in a manner which should be generally self-explanatory from FIGURE 4.

It is believed that the simple manner in which the needle blocks B1 to B4 are introduced and releasably engaged in the needle carrier 2 is very advantageous and an improvement over other systems.

Additionally, since the needle blocks are readily releasably engageable in the needle carrier, advantageously, they can be removed for disinfection and/or autoclaving in order to control cross-infection.

Advantageously, any area of the instrument which could be infected is accessible for such disinfection and/or autoclaving.

In a modified embodiment (not shown) it is envisaged that the needles cquld alternatively be provided on a rotating, indexable head.

FIGURE 5 shows in more detail a perspective view of the end block B1 showing in more detail the solid chisel pointed needles N.

As shown in FIGURES 1 to 5 the anvil pad 6 and anvil 16d and frame 5 are detachable as a unit from the remainder of the guide attachment 16 by unscrewing screws W in a manner which should be self evident.

FIGURES 6 and 7 show a modification in which the frame 5' is spring loaded and slidably mounted.

FIGURE 6 shows an animal marking instrument 1' which is a modified Webley pistol, utilising the overhead cocking lever 7', piston 10' and other component parts.

Piston 10' has been reversed in the firing barrel 3' so that the piston is pulled to the rear of the instrument 1' during cocking by means of lever 7', rather than the usual piston action associated with the Webley pistol.

The particular pistol modified is known as the "Tempest" air pistol. Advantageously, a suitable cost effective instrument 1' has been produced in this way which works well.

It should be stated that the Applicant's production version of the instrument (FIGURES 1 to 5) is the result of at least some seven years work in the field to perfect a satisfactory instrument. The production version has advantages over the prototype since it is slimmer and slightly less cumbersome to use. Each version appears to be more user friendly than previous devices and allows the animal marking to be done by one person only rather than requiring a second person to handle the animal whilst two hands are engaged in operating the marking instrument.

In FIGURE 6, slide arrangement 101 is provided to allow the frame or ink sachet holder 5' to be reciprocated on a slideway provided on the guide attachment 16' for needle carrier 2'. An underside view of the slide arrangement 101 is shown in FIGURE 7.

Finger actuation of metal end bracket 102, along the barrel direction, promotes movement of holder 5'.

Movement of bracket 102 in the direction of arrow M moves holder 5' in that direction against spring biassing provided by spring 103. An ear of an animal can then be introduced inbetween the holder 5' and anvil 16'd. On release of bracket 102, the ear is gripped inbetween holder 5' and anvil 16'd by the spring biassed return movement of holder 5', in a manner which should be selfexplanatory from the drawings. The facility for gripping the ear in this manner was not found to be necessary in the production version (FIGURES 1 to 5) suitable for marking of greyhound ears. Nevertheless, such a slide mechanism may, advantageously, be employed in other situations and particularly without the anvil, for example, in the marking of cattle.

FIGURES 8a and 8b show a complete, assembled sachet 101 consisting of a pouch 102 made from a plastics film with a cardboard frame 103 attached to the pouch. The pouch is filled with a suitable dose (about 0.5 ml) of tattooing ink. The outside dimensions of the pouch and of the cardboard frame are nominally 47 x 40 mm. The aperture A in the frame 103, and the ink area of the pouch 102 have nominal dimensions of 35 x 25 mm. The aperture A in the frame 103, and the ink area of the pouch 102 have nominal dimensions of 35 x 25 mm. The aperture A is central within the frame 102, thus producing a symmetrical pouch: this feature is convenient to the user, who is not required to place the sachet into the instrument 1 (more specifically into means 5) in one specific attitude, but in any one of four attitudes.

The pouch is heat sealed on all four sides. It may be made from any packaging film or laminate found suitable. Materials which have been successfully used are unsupported polythene; a laminate of nylon and polythene (with the polythene inside); and a laminate of polyethylene terephthalate and polythene (with the polythene inside). Thick packaging films have been found to be less suitable: films and laminates within the range 40 - 60 micrometres thick have been found suitable.

The cardboard frame should be sufficiently robust to restrict distortion of the sachet in use. There is a wide choice of suitable boards, and it has been found that 650 micrometre thick white lined chipboard performs satisfactorily and is inexpensive.

The plastics pouch 102 and the cardboard frame 103 may be attached to each other over the whole surfaces in contact or part of these surfaces by any chosen means, for example heat sealing or gluing.

It is to be understood that the scope of the present invention is not to be unduly limited by the particular choice of terminology and that a specific term may be replaced by any equivalent or generic term where sensible. Further it is to be understood that individual features, method or functions related to the instrument or marking an animal might be individually patentably inventive.

Therefore, still further according to the present invention there is a method of adapting a Webley pistol into an animal marking instrument, by reversing the piston in the firing barrel and providing a guide attachment on the firing barrel, which attachment slidably guides a tattooing needle carrier along the axis of the barrel, the arrangement being such that on firing the pistol said piston propels the needle carrier in a forward direction into part of an animal to be marked.

Claims (32)

1. An animal marking instrument in the form of a pistol having tattooing needles movably mounted at one end of a firing barrel of the pistol on a needle carrier, which needles, in use, are propelled through a sachet containing a tattooing dye or paste before penetrating a part of the animal to be marked, said instrument having means for holding the sachet relative to the needles during said penetration, said means allowing rapid removal of the sachet after use for replacement by a new unused sachet.

2. An instrument as claimed in Claim 1 in which the means for holding the sachet is fixed relative to the firing barrel.

3. An instrument as claimed in Claim 1 in which said means comprises a slidable spring-loaded holder.

4. An instrument as claimed in Claim 3 in which said holder is biassed into contact with a part of the animal in use.

5. An instrument as claimed in any one of the preceding claims which is utilisable with an anvil.

6. An instrument as claimed in Claim 5 which has a detachable anvil.

7. An instrument as claimed in Claim 6 in which said means for holding the sachet and said anvil are detachable from the instrument as a unit.

8. An instrument as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the arrangement is such that the needles are automatically cleaned on retraction from the sachet.

9. An instrument as claimed in Claim 8 in which the needles are cleaned by the engagement of a punctured rearward wall part of the sachet with the needles, so that the needles are wiped clean on withdrawal from the facet wall.

10. An instrument as claimed in any one of the preceding claims including at least one sacilet of a basic transparent plastics construction.

11. An instrument as claimed in Claim 10 in wiici the sachet has an outer cardboard frame which slots into said sachet holder means.

12. An animal marking instrument substantially as herein described with reference to FIGURES 1 to 5, or 6 and 7 of the accompanying drawings.

13. An animal marking instrument as claimed in any one of the preceding claims including at least one sachet substantially as herein described with reference to FIGURES 8a and 8b of the accompanying drawings.

14. An animal marking instrument in the form of a handheld double-action pistol, said pistol having an overhead, pivotable cocking lever which is pivoted from a first rest position generally parallel with a firing barrel of the pistol to a second, cocking position in which the pistol is ready for firing, the arrangement being such that on firing of the pistol a needle carrier having tattooing needles is propelled in such manner that the needles penetrate a part of an animal to be marked.

15. An instrument as claimed in Claim 14 in which the needle carrier is spring loaded by spring means.

16. An instrument as claimed in Claim 15 in which the spring means extends within the firing barrel itself or at least not beyond the radial dimension of the barrel.

17. An instrument as claimed in any one of Claims 14 to 16 in which cocking the pistol retracts a piston against a spring biasing force, and firing the pistol rapidly moves the piston along the firing barrel under the action of said spring biassing force.

18. An instrument as claimed in Claim 17 in which the piston strikes the needle carrier and thereby propels the carrier forwardly against biassing provided by said spring means.

19. An instrument as claimed in Claim 17 in which the carrier is propelled as far as stop means so that in such position, the needles will have penetrated a part of an animal to be marked and the needles will then be returned to the uncocked position by the action of said spring means.

20. An instrument as claimed in any one of Claims 14 to 19 in which the pistol is provided with a guide attachment which guides the needle carrier during said propulsion.

21. An instrument as claimed in Claim 20 in which said attachment is screw-threadably engaged on the firing barrel.

22. An instrument as claimed in Claim 21 in which the attachment and the firing barrel provide a housing for a stem portion of the needle carrier which is slidably guided in a receiving hole of said attachment.

23. An instrument as claimed in Claim 22 in which said hole is coaxial with the firing barrel.

24. An instrument as claimed in Claim 22 or Claim 23 in which an internally stepped sleeve receives said spring means and stem portion and is fixed in the firing barrel on assembly of the guide attachment thereto.

25. An instrument as claimed in any one of claims 14 to 24 in which the needle carrier is provided with a dovetail slot or the like which receives needle blocks (in which the needles are mounted) having a matching cross section.

26. An instrument as claimed in any one of Claims 14 to 24 in which the needles are provided on a rotatable, indexable head.

27. An animal marking instrument in the form of a handheld double-action pistol, said pistol having cocking means to cock the pistol by retracting a piston reciprocatable in a firing barrel of the pistol, and having a finger trigger which is pivotable or reciprocatable to fire the pistol, the finger trigger being engageable by a forefinger of the hand whilst a butt of the pistol is gripped by the thumb and the remainder of the hand, the arrangement being such that on firing of the pistol, by pressing the finger trigger with the forefinger, a needle carrier mounted at a forward end of the firing barrel and having tattooing needles is propelled by said piston in such manner that the needles penetrate a part of an animal to be marked.

28. An animal marking instrument comprising a hand-held double-action pistol, said pistol having cocking means (preferably provided by an overhead cocking lever) to cock the pistol against the action of a spring biassing force, which cocking action simultaneously preferably allows back, from a first position, a needle carrier along a guide or slide attached to a gun barrel of said pistol, to a second, ready-for-use position, said pistol having a pivotable trigger piece and on actuation of said trigger piece after cocking of the pistol (thus on firing the pistol), the needle carrier is urged outwardly from the gun barrel beyond said first position under the action of said spring biassing force and in use, said needles are arranged to rapidly penetrate and to be rapidly withdrawn from a part of an animal to be marked positioned adjacent to marking needles of said needle carrier, said needle carrier being returned to said first position under the action of spring means, the extent of travel of the needle carrier and thus the depth of penetration of the needles into said animal part being limited by stop means, said pistol, preferably, having a sachet of tattooing ink located in between the needles of the needle carrier and said part of the animal to be marked, the arrangement being such that on firing of the pistol the needles penetrate said sachet and carry ink therefrom into said part of the animal on penetration of said animal part by the needles, said needles being wiped clean again on withdrawal from the sachet.

29. A method of adapting a Webley pistol into an animal marking instrument, by reversing the piston in the firing barrel and providing a guide attachment on the firing barrel, which attachment slidably guides a tattooing needle carrier along the axis of the barrel, the arrangement being such that on firing the pistol said piston propels the needle carrier in a forward direction into part of an animal to be marked.

30. A method as claimed in Claim 29 and substantially as herein described with reference to FIGURES 6 and 7 of the accompanying drawings.

31. An instrument or method, as the case may be, as claimed in any one of the preceding claims including any novel feature or features apparent from the accompanying description and FIGURES of the drawings.

32. A sachet for use with an instrument, or in a method, as the case may be, as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.