Card – picture – or sign exhibiting – Check – label – or tag – Fastener
Reexamination Certificate
1997-11-25
2001-05-08
Melius, Terry Lee (Department: 3628)
Card, picture, or sign exhibiting
Check, label, or tag
Fastener
C040S637000, C040S300000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06226911
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
THIS INVENTION relates to a tag and a method of securing it to an object. In particular, the invention concerns a tag which may be applied to an object such as meat products, hides and skins, and other articles.
The invention will be described by way of example with reference to the application of the tag to skins and hides. It should be appreciated that this is by way of example only, and that the tag of the invention may also be applied to other articles.
In the processing of animal carcasses in abattoirs, there is a need for identifying the particular carcass from which skin or hide originates Such identification allows for quality assurance procedures to be implemented and for products such as hides to be sold at their true value. In addition, during the course of slaughtering animals, it is often necessary to be able to accurately determine the particular carcass from which cuts of meat originate. This is also desirable from the point of view of quality assurance procedures.
It has become the practice to label cuts of meat or hides with labels or tags carrying indicia such as bar codes or the like. These labels were either pre-printed, or printed on site. Typically, these labels were secured to the cut of meat or hide by first cutting the meat or the hide and then attaching the label with a loop extending through the cut and as a consequence, the loop which secures the label in place, is accessible from one or other or both sides of the cut of meat or hide. The incision in the cut of meat or hide was usually made by one person and another person would be responsible for attaching the label and it was often difficult for that person to locate the incision previously made.
The labels employed typically consisted of a thin plastic tag inserted into and extending through the cut of meat or hide and in some instances, rather than being attached as described above, were secured to the cut of meat or hide by employing a needle gun. If these tags were not completely removed from the cut of meat, portions of the tag often remained in the meat product and this could cause problems for the consumer.
Where the tags were secured to skins or hides while the skin was still green or unprocessed, it was necessary to remove the tag to allow the hide to be defleshed to remove the flesh remaining on the hide before the hide could be further processed. This defleshing operation uses rotating roller blades to remove flesh and fat from the hide and if the tag was not removed before this process was carried out, the fleshing process would sever the tag from the hide. In any event, after the fleshing operation, tags would need to be re-secured to the hide, so that each hide could readily be identified with a particular carcass.
The tags or labels were typically made from a variety of materials including paper, woven cloth, thin sheets of plastic, or thin sheets of gelatin or collagen.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a label or tag and a method for securing such a tag to an article which at least minimise the disadvantages referred to above.
According to one aspect, there is provided a label or tag having a body portion adapted to carry indicia either pre-printed onto the body portion, or applied to the body portion once the tag is attached to an object, and an attachment portion co-planar with and at one end of the body portion, the attachment portion having at least one barb extending therefrom for allowing the tag to be secured to the object with the attachment portion embedded into the object.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of securing the tag referred to above to an object, the method including supporting the object against movement providing a slit in the object to which the tag is to be secured, inserting the attachment portion into the slit and slightly withdrawing the tag from the slit so that the barb engages the object to anchor the tag to the object.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a tool for inserting the tag mentioned above into an object, the tool having a blade at one end and means for releasable holding the tag whereby the blade may be employed to form a slit in an object to which the tag is to be secured and when the blade is withdrawn from the slit, the tag is released from the tool and is anchored to the object.
In one embodiment, the body is substantially planar and relatively thin and is adapted to carry indicia on at least one side face thereof. The attachment portion may form an extension to the body and is co-planar with the body. The tag may have opposed lateral side edges and if desired, these edges may be parallel to one another, although this is not necessary.
The attachment portion may terminate in a reduced width free end although the attachment portion may be of a width comparable to the width of the body of the tag.
Preferably, a plurality of barbs are present in the attachment portion. These barbs may extend at spaced intervals along one edge of the tag and the attachment portion. Alternatively, the barbs may extend along opposed edges of the attachment portion. In another embodiment, the barbs are located on the attachment portion but between opposed edges of the attachment portion. If desired, the attachment portion may be provided with barbs extending along one or both of the edges of the attachment portion, as well as having barbs located between edges of the attachment portion.
The barbs may have any convenient shape which ensures that they anchor relative to the object to which they are attached when the tag is slightly withdrawn from the slit in the object. Preferably, the barbs have a reduced width free end and are directed rearwardly of the attachment portion, away from the free end of the portion, and towards the body of the tag.
A tool may be employed for inserting the tag into the object. The tool locates onto and restrains the object to allow the tag to be inserted into the slit made into the object. Since the tag is inserted substantially laterally into the object and does not necessarily project through the object, it may remain in place during further processing of the article which may be necessary when the object under consideration, is a skin or hide. Since the tag projects laterally into the skin or hide, it is not prone to being inadvertently removed during the defleshing operation referred to above.
The tool may be manually operated or mechanically driven relative to the object to thereby anchor the tag relative to the object. In one embodiment the tool may have a holding member which releasably holds the tag to allow it to be anchored to the object. In one embodiment, the holding member may include a pin which releasably engages the tag.
In another embodiment, the tool releasably clamps onto the tag to releasably hold the tag to allow it to be anchored to the object.
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Melius Terry Lee
Renner , Otto, Boisselle & Sklar, LLP
Santos Robert G.
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