Ear Tag Retaining Clips for Irreversible Animal Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional ear tags with deformable tabs often fail to provide an irreversible coupling between the male and female components, leading to potential breakage and complications such as the tag becoming hooked on external objects, causing harm to the animal.
Innovation Solution
The ear tag features a female component with a receptacle and elastically deformable retaining clips that widen to accommodate the male component's head during insertion and then narrow to irreversibly retain it, ensuring the male component cannot be removed without breaking the stem, thus preventing reuse and external entanglements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If deformable tabs are used to retain the male component head, then the head can be inserted and retained in the fastening socket, but the tabs may break under pressure allowing the male component to be separated and reused
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining means is divided into multiple independent elastically deformable elements (projections or tabs) that can deform individually to accommodate the male component head during insertion, then recover to retain the head. This segmentation allows each element to flex independently, distributing the stress and reducing the likelihood of complete failure.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining means utilizes elastic deformation properties where the tabs can temporarily change their physical state (deform) during insertion and then return to their original state for retention. The material properties and geometric parameters of the tabs are designed to provide sufficient elasticity for insertion while maintaining retention force.
2Reliability
If the passage cross-section is made smaller than the head width to prevent removal, then the head is retained, but the head cannot be inserted without forcing the tabs to bend
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining means employs dynamic elastic deformation of the tabs during the insertion process. The tabs are designed to flex outward temporarily to allow head passage, then automatically return to their original position to create the retaining force. This dynamic behavior enables both easy insertion and secure retention without requiring separate actions.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastically deformable tabs automatically perform the dual function of facilitating insertion and providing retention. During insertion, the tabs naturally deform under the head's pressure and then self-recover to create the retaining force, eliminating the need for separate insertion and retention mechanisms.
3Strength
If the tabs are made more rigid to prevent breaking, then the retention strength increases, but the stem cannot turn freely and external components may become hooked
Solution Approach 1:
The tabs are designed with specific local geometric properties - narrow width and appropriate length - that provide sufficient rigidity to prevent breaking while maintaining enough flexibility for stem rotation. The local quality of each tab (its dimensions and material properties) is optimized to balance retention strength with operational freedom.
Solution Approach 2:
The retaining means utilizes thin, elastically deformable tab structures that can flex during stem rotation and insertion while maintaining their retaining function. These thin film-like elements provide the necessary combination of flexibility for movement and rigidity for retention.
4Reliability
If elastically deformable tabs are used for retention, then the head can be inserted and retained, but the tabs exert pressure on the stem making it difficult to turn freely
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of the tabs actively pressing against the stem to provide retention, the design allows the stem to pass through and the tabs to naturally spring back to their original position, creating retention through the stem's own movement rather than active tab pressure. This inverts the mechanism from active pressing to passive spring-back retention.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution ensures a secure, irreversible coupling that prevents the male component from being removed, reducing the risk of the tag breaking free and causing harm, while allowing free rotation of the stem and reducing the overall weight of the tag.
Implementation Method 1
the retaining means comprises at least two retaining clips that are elastically deformable on the plane of the opening and transversally cross the rim
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~5
Figure 6~8
AI summary
Ear tag for identifying animals, which includes two separate components consisting of a male component (2) , having a headed stem (3) preceded by a peripheral step (5), and a female component (6) comprising an identification plate joined to a receptacle (7), adapted to house the head (3) of the male component (2), and a retaining means (13) to secure the head inside the receptacle (7), which comprises at least two retaining clips (10a, 10b, 100a, 100b, 100c) that are elastically deformable on the plane of the opening and which transversally cross the rim, between them defining an aperture for the head of the male component which widens as said head is inserted into the receptacle, due to the elastic deformation of the clips, and narrows once said head has fully inserted into the receptacle, the head remaining irreversibly retained inside the female component as the step comes into contact with the clips.