IPC분류정보
국가/구분 |
United States(US) Patent
등록
|
국제특허분류(IPC7판) |
|
출원번호 |
US-0738379
(2008-08-08)
|
등록번호 |
US-8517957
(2013-08-27)
|
우선권정보 |
EP-07301479 (2007-10-18) |
국제출원번호 |
PCT/EP2008/006578
(2008-08-08)
|
§371/§102 date |
20100719
(20100719)
|
국제공개번호 |
WO2009/049706
(2009-04-23)
|
발명자
/ 주소 |
- Decaluwe, Johan
- Gaschet, Jérôme
|
출원인 / 주소 |
|
대리인 / 주소 |
Pearl Cohen Zedek Latzer, LLP
|
인용정보 |
피인용 횟수 :
3 인용 특허 :
4 |
초록
The present invention relates to an ear tag (1) for marking an animal and for sampling tissue from said animal.
대표청구항
▼
1. An ear tag for marking an animal and for sampling tissue from said animal, comprising: a male part and a female part, said male part having a stem and a tip of said stem, said female part having a receiving portion for receiving said tip and at least parts of said stem upon application of the ear
1. An ear tag for marking an animal and for sampling tissue from said animal, comprising: a male part and a female part, said male part having a stem and a tip of said stem, said female part having a receiving portion for receiving said tip and at least parts of said stem upon application of the ear tag,said ear tag further comprising sample collecting means and, optionally, a sample container,wherein said sample collecting means is detachably associated with said male part prior to application of the ear tag, and wherein said sample container, if present, is detachably associated with said female part prior to application of the ear tag,wherein said sample collecting means has a first interior space for receiving a tissue sample, and said sample container, if present, has a second interior space for receiving a tissue sample,wherein said sample collecting means is configured such that it becomes pressed into or through tissue of an animal upon application of the ear tag to generate a tissue sample,wherein said ear tag, prior to application, further comprises a desiccant portion, said desiccant portion being associated with said sample collecting means or said sample container, said desiccant portion being made from a desiccant material shaped into a solid desiccant body,wherein, after application of the ear tag and sampling of tissue from the animal, said solid desiccant body and said sample collecting means, or said solid desiccant body and said sample container, are arranged such that at least one of said first interior space and said second interior space is exposed to said solid desiccant body, thereby allowing the desiccation of a tissue sample present within said first interior space or said second interior space,wherein said solid desiccant body is a unitary solid desiccant body which is not a powder of desiccant material and not a plurality of grains of desiccant material,wherein said solid desiccant body is integrated in said sample collecting means as an integral portion thereof, which does not come into direct physical contact with a tissue sample present in said sample collecting means, or wherein said solid desiccant body is formed as an insert which lines all or part of said first interior space, and said insert does not come into direct physical contact with a tissue sample present in said sample collecting means,wherein said sample collecting means, prior to application of said ear tag, is associated with said male part in a detachable manner such that upon application of said ear tag by introducing said tip and at least parts of said stem of said male part into said receiving portion of said female part, said sample collecting means is pressed into or through tissue of an animal, thereby generating a tissue sample within said first interior space, and,wherein said sample collecting means, after application of said ear tag, is detached from said male part together with said tissue sample within said first interior space by withdrawing it therefrom, said sample collecting means having a front end and a back end, said front end having a sharp edge, said sharp edge being configured to cut into tissue and generate a tissue sample which is received in said first interior space when said sample collecting means is pressed into or through tissue, said back end being a reservoir for containing a desiccant, said reservoir being or comprising said desiccant portion. 2. The ear tag according to claim 1, wherein said solid desiccant body is formed from a mixture of a binder and a desiccant material. 3. The ear tag according to claim 2, wherein said binder is a polymer, and said desiccant material is entrained in said polymer. 4. The ear tag according to claim 3, wherein said polymer is a naturally occurring polymer, such as starch, cellulose, or a modified form thereof, such as pre-gelatinized starch, or is a thermoplastic polymer, preferably a polyolefin, such as polypropylene, polyethylene, or a polycarbonate or a polyamide. 5. The ear tag according to claim 4, wherein said polymer is a thermoplastic polymer and wherein said solid desiccant body is formed from said thermoplastic polymer, said desiccant material and additionally a channeling agent, wherein said channeling agent is an agent that allows for access of moisture to said desiccant material within said thermoplastic polymer. 6. The ear tag according to claim 5, wherein said channeling agent is selected from polyglycol, glycerol, ethylene vinyl alcohol and polyvinyl alcohol. 7. The ear tag according to claim 1, wherein said desiccant material is an anhydrous salt or a material having capillary morphology. 8. The ear tag according to claim 1, wherein said solid desiccant body has a curved shape or a tubular shape or a shape matching said first or said second interior space. 9. The ear tag according to claim 1, wherein said reservoir has side-walls and a bottom defining a third interior space which is a subset of said first interior space, and said solid desiccant body is integrated into said side-walls of said reservoir and said bottom of said reservoir, or said solid desiccant body is formed as an insert which lines all or part of said third interior space, or said solid desiccant body makes up said reservoir. 10. The ear tag according to claim 1, wherein said front end of said sample collecting means is a hollow needle having side-walls, a first end and a second end, said hollow needle being attached to said reservoir with said first. end at a first wall of said reservoir, said hollow needle having a sharp edge at said second end, which sharp edge is identical with said sharp edge of said front end of said sample collecting means, said hollow needle further having a hollow interior ending in a first opening and a second opening at said first end and second end, respectively, wherein said first wall of said reservoir comprises a first wall area that is configured so as to be pierced through by said first end of said hollow needle upon pressing said sample collecting means into tissue. 11. The ear tag according to claim 10, wherein said first wall area has a thickness which is at least partially smaller than other wall areas adjacent to or surrounding said first wall area, oris weakened by perforation or by a groove or by a side to be ruptured by said first end of said hollow needle. 12. The ear tag according to claim 10, wherein said hollow needle is attached with said first end to said reservoir at said first wall of said reservoir by means of a fixing part, said fixing part having a channel extending from said first wall and ending in an orifice, said channel having dimensions so as to hold a first part of said hollow needle including said first end of said hollow needle, said hollow needle being held at said first part by said channel. 13. The ear tag according to claim 12, wherein said channel has an inner diameter that matches an outer diameter of said hollow needle at said first part of said hollow needle, wherein said hollow needle, at said first part, frictionally engages with said channel, and, upon pressing said sample collecting means into tissue, is moved with its first end towards said first wall area and pierces through said first wall area by means of said first end. 14. The ear tag according to claim 10, wherein said reservoir and said fixing part are made from plastic. 15. The ear tag according to claim 10, wherein said first wall is made from plastic and is also made by molding during molding of the reservoir, or said first wall is made from a thin foil and is applied to said reservoir after production of said reservoir. 16. The ear tag according to claim 12, wherein said fixing part is made integral with said reservoir. 17. The ear tag according to claim 12, wherein said fixing part is made separately from said reservoir and is connected thereto in a second step. 18. The ear tag according to claim 10, wherein said hollow needle is made from metal. 19. The ear tag according to claim 10, wherein said hollow needle has a longitudinal axis extending between said first end and said second end, said longitudinal axis being perpendicular to said first wall of said reservoir. 20. The ear tag according to claim 12, wherein said hollow needle is being held perpendicular to said first wall of said reservoir by means of said channel of said fixing part. 21. The ear tag according to claim 10, wherein said hollow needle comprises an insert body in its hollow interior which frictionally engages with said side-walls of said hollow needle but which can be moved within and out of said hollow interior upon exertion of pressure to said insert body, thereby also moving a tissue sample, present within said hollow interior, within and out of said hollow interior of said needle. 22. The ear tag according to claim 21, wherein said insert body has a longitudinal axis which is parallel to a longitudinal axis of said hollow needle extending between said first end and said second end and being perpendicular to said first wall of said reservoir, and wherein said insert body has a cross-section perpendicular to said longitudinal axis which cross-section allows liquid to pass through said hollow needle from said first end to said second end. 23. The ear tag according to claim 22, wherein said cross-section is circular or semi-circular or oval or cross-shaped. 24. The ear tag according to claim 22, wherein said insert-body has the shape of a cylinder having a circular or oval cross-section or has the shape of a column having a cross-shaped or X-shaped or star-shaped cross-section. 25. A method of applying an ear tag to an animal and taking a sample from said animal, comprising the steps: providing a male and a female part of an ear tag as defined in claim 1,applying said male and female part to an ear of an animal and applying thus an ear tag in said ear and thereby obtaining a tissue sample, either in the first interior space of said sample collecting means, in the hollow interior of said hollow needle of said sample collecting means, or in the second interior space of said sample container,either, detaching said sample container including said tissue sample from said female part, or, withdrawing said sample collecting means from said male part of said ear tag.
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