GB2580100A

GB2580100A - RFID sheep tags

Info

Publication number: GB2580100A
Application number: GB1820993.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stefan Myers Nigel
Original assignee: Cable Trail Ltd
Current assignee: Cable Trail Ltd
Priority date: 2018-12-21
Filing date: 2018-12-21
Publication date: 2020-07-15
Anticipated expiration: 2038-12-21
Also published as: GB201820993D0; GB2580100B

Abstract

An animal tag 1 comprising a one piece moulded plastic strip having a housing 2 for a RFID module. A lid 3 attached to the housing via a live hinge 6, secures the RFID module in the housing. A fastener clip 5 is provided to secure in use the tag to an animal’s ear.

Description

RFID Sheep Ta2s This invention concerns identification tags for farm animals, specifically sheep. Whilst there are many variations of these tags, they are either desigied for a specific purpose or have disadvantages in their design.

The traditional Ear tag consists of a button and a pin. The pin is pushed through the ear 10 and into the button where it is immobilised through material deformation or snap engagement action The shapes vary considerably, from round through square or elongate to strip shaped, from single piece to multi-parts. Their functions are equally diverse, starting from simple IS flat pieces of plastic to sophisticated chip containing gadgets which send signals as to the animal's position.

The most cost effective version of such tags is a strip of plastic with a paddle shaped flap on it, which flap can have either pre-printed or hand written info on it.

This type of tag is labelled a "passive" tag. They are low maintenance and usually last the life time of the animal tagged with it.

Many of any of these tags have the problem of needing two separate pieces to be joined together. A special applicator tool is generally needed for such tags, which will be put down somewhere and forgotten.

With the development of REED technology, RFID modules were included in ear tags to simplify the retrieval of the information needed.

These modules were either moulded into a flap or other part of the tag or introduced into a cavity just before application of the tag to the animal and held in place by the tag closure. So if or when such a tag has to be removed, the RFID module was likely to get lost as it would be exposed and fall out of its cavity.

The inventors set themselves the task to develop an ear tag into which a RFID module can easily be inserted, secured and then the tag be attached to the animal.

For this purpose the tag is moulded in one piece with a living hinge, supporting the cover 40 for the RFID probe and a flexible piece, which is bent over to form the loop to go around the ear of the animal.

Statement of the invention.

An animal tag consisting of one piece of moulded plastic strip comprising a housing for a RFID module, a lid for said housing attached to said housing by a live hinge and a fastener clip which folds over the closed housing and pierces the ear of an animal.

Description of the drawings

Figure 1 a single tag in perspective view Figure lA is an enlargement of the housing lid closure Figure 2 the same single tag with the RFD holder closed Figure 3 a top view of an open tag Figure 4 a side view of the same single tag Figure 5 a bank of open tags Figure 6 the same in perspective view Figure 1 shows a single open tag ready for the reception of a RFD module and to be applied to a sheep's ear. It essentially consists of four major parts, a module housing (2), its lid (3), a flexible zone (4) and the tag fastener clip (5).

The whole is moulded in one piece, making it difficult to lose part of the clip, which Housing (2) is an open top receptacle which receives the RFD module. It has a lid (3) attached via a live hinge (6). Housing (2) is longer than a RED module with an aperture (7) near live hinge (6) to accommodate the piercing pin which is attached to the free end of said fastener clip (5).

Lid (3) also sports an aperture (8), slightly larger than its counterpart in the end of said housing (2) such that the lid's aperture (8) fits over the housing's aperture (7) and the dimensions of the whole lid (3) are such that the whole lid fits flush into the top of housing (2), thus closing the RFID housing (2).

The loose end of said lid (3) shows a protrusion (10) which meets the far end of housing (2). Protrusion (10) shows a barb (11) which engages with a slot (12) in said housing (2) and hooks behind a latch (13) holding lip (11) firmly in place after closure.

Figure 1 A shows an enlargement of the lid closure arrangement. From that it can be seen that the lid, once closed down, cannot be re-opened without damaging the tag.

The protrusion (10) enters the slot (12) and, once pushed all the way down, the barb (1 I) lodges behind the latch (13) and cannot be released for lack of space between the body of the protrusion and the wall of the housing.

Figure 2 shows the arrangement after the lid is closed onto the housing. The tag (1) is prepared in the following manner.

An RFID module is placed into housing (2) and lid (3) is folded along its live hinge (6).

Lid (3) is formed in such a way that it fits flush into the top of housing (2) when fully depressed. The RFID is then securely held in the housing and cannot be removed without damaging the tag and probably the module. The tag is then ready to be applied to the animal in question.

Figures 3 and 4 show the preferred dimensions of our tag. The open tag has a length of about 128 mm (or 6"), a width of about 10 mm (or about 'A an inch) and closes to a length of about 45 mm (or 2").

These dimensions are not to be taken as limitations to the invention and could vary 110 according to what they are supposed to achieve or what type of animal they are to be affixed.

Figure 5 shows a bank of ten sheep tags open and ready for application in plan-view, and Figure 6 shows the same in perspective view.

As can be seen they are connected by easy break connectors (14) at the tags flexible part (5), which will form the ear loop once the tag is applied.

Thus we have a sheep tag which cannot lose any parts and comprises an anti-tamper 120 enclosure for the RFID module.

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Claims

Claims.An animal tag consisting of one piece of moulded plastic strip comprising a housing for a RIFID module, a lid for said housing attached to said housing by a live hinge and a and a fastener clip which folds over the housing and pierces the ear of an animal.
An animal tag according to claim 1 wherein said lid to said housing is attached to one end of said housing and the said fastener clip to the other end.
3. An animal tag according to claim 2 wherein said lid closes said housing by fitting flush into the top of said housing.
An animal tag according to claim I wherein said RF1D module is fixed into its housing before the tag is attached to an animal.
5, An animal tag according to claim I wherein said fastener clip comprises a piercing finger at one end and a flexible zone at the other.
An animal tag according to claim 4 wherein said fastener clip is connected to said housing via said flexible zone.
An animal tag according to claim 3 wherein said housing comprises an aperture into which said piercing finger penetrates and locks the tag.
An animal tag according to claim 1 wherein said lid for said housing traps said RF1D module in said housing.
An animal tag according to claim 7 wherein said lid comprises a barb at its loose end, which barb slips past a protrusion in a slot inside said housing and locks said lid in the closed position.
10. An animal tag according to claim 1 wherein a number of tags are connected together by easy-break links.************************