Animal ear tag

Magnus Olsson, Tumba (SE)

USPTO: us-12648545 · published 2026-06-09 · patents · A01K 11/004· H05K 5/0086· H05K 5/0217

Animal ear tag

Magnus Olsson, Tumba (SE) This is my paper

Pith reviewed 2026-06-10 13:31 UTC · model grok-4.3

classification patents A01K 11/004H05K 5/0086H05K 5/0217

keywords animal ear taghousingpotting materialelectronic circuitbatteryone-piece portioncircuit planemale tag portion

0 comments

The pith

An animal ear tag uses a one-piece housing portion that forms most of the outer surface and fully pots the battery and circuit in a different material covering both sides of the circuit plane.

A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.

The patent presents a design for an animal ear tag that incorporates a battery-powered electronic circuit inside a protective housing. The housing has an opening to receive and engage a male tag portion for attachment to an animal's ear. A first housing portion made as a single piece makes up the main outer surface and creates a cavity that holds the battery and circuit. This cavity is completely filled with a potting material of a second, different material. The housing structure extends over both main surfaces of the plane in which the circuit lies.

Core claim

The invention comprises an animal ear tag with a housing of a first material that includes an opening configured to receive and engage the head portion of a male tag. A first housing portion formed in one piece comprises a main portion of the outer surface and forms a cavity in which the battery and electronic circuit are arranged. The battery and circuit are potted in the cavity using a second material different from the first that fills the entirety of the cavity around them. The electronic circuit extends in a circuit plane, and the first housing portion extends over both main surfaces of that plane.

What carries the argument

The one-piece first housing portion that comprises the main outer surface, forms the cavity for the battery and circuit, and extends over both main surfaces of the circuit plane while the cavity is filled entirely by the potting material.

If this is right

The potting material fills the entire cavity and surrounds the battery and circuit on all sides.
The housing engages the head of the male tag portion through the opening to secure the tag to the animal.
The first housing portion provides coverage on both main surfaces of the circuit plane.
The second potting material differs from the first housing material to achieve the filled cavity.

Where Pith is reading between the lines

These are editorial extensions of the paper, not claims the author makes directly.

The approach could reduce the need for separate sealing components in electronic animal identification devices.
Similar one-piece housing and potting geometry might apply to other small wearable sensors in outdoor or agricultural settings.
The design choice of extending the housing over both circuit surfaces could influence how circuit boards are oriented in future compact tags.

Load-bearing premise

The one-piece housing geometry together with complete potting will keep the electronics functioning when the tag is attached to an animal and subjected to repeated movement, impacts, and environmental exposure.

What would settle it

A test in which the electronic circuit fails to operate after the assembled tag undergoes a set number of mechanical flexes, drops, or water exposures would show the design does not maintain function as described.

read the original abstract

1 . An animal ear tag comprising: a housing comprising a first material, a battery, and an electronic circuit powered by the battery, wherein the housing comprises an opening configured to receive therein a head portion of a male tag portion, the opening configured to engage with the head portion, wherein the housing comprises a first housing portion formed in one piece and comprising a main portion of an outer surface of the housing, wherein the first housing portion forms a cavity in which the battery and the electronic circuit are arranged, wherein the battery and the electronic circuit are potted in the cavity in a potting material comprising a second material that fills an entirety of the cavity around the battery and the electronic circuit, the second material being different than the first material of the housing, wherein the electronic circuit extends in a circuit plane, and wherein the first housing portion extends over both main surfaces of the circuit plane.

Editorial analysis

A structured set of objections, weighed in public.

Desk editor's note, referee report, simulated authors' rebuttal, and a circularity audit. Tearing a paper down is the easy half of reading it; the pith above is the substance, this is the friction.

Desk Editor's Note private letter to a colleague

This is a US patent claim for a one-piece housing and full-potting ear tag design with no performance data or prior art comparison.

read the letter

This patent application describes an animal ear tag with a housing made of one material that forms a cavity for the battery and electronic circuit. The components get potted in a different material that fills the entire cavity, and the housing extends over both main surfaces of the circuit plane. It also includes an opening meant to engage with a male tag portion for attachment. The core claim is this specific geometry and potting arrangement for better protection in agricultural use. What stands out as new is the combination of the one-piece first housing portion covering the outer surface while fully enclosing the circuit on both sides with the potting. The description is direct and focuses on how the parts assemble without extra layers or complexity. It does a reasonable job outlining a mechanical configuration that could shield the electronics from the environment. The soft spots are clear and central: there is no testing, no durability data, no material compatibility details, and no discussion of how the engagement holds up under repeated use or stress. The design is presented as self-evidently workable from the geometry alone, which leaves the practical value unverified. Since this is a patent filing rather than a research paper, the lack of validation or literature engagement is not surprising but does limit its usefulness beyond the claim itself. This document is mainly relevant to engineers or companies in livestock RFID and animal identification who track patents for design or licensing reasons. A general technical reader or scientist would find little to engage with. I would not bring it to a reading group. It does not need or deserve peer review in the scientific sense, as it reports no results, derivations, or empirical findings that require external checking.

Referee Report

0 major / 0 minor

Summary. The manuscript presents a patent claim for an animal ear tag comprising a housing of a first material with an opening to receive and engage the head of a male tag portion; the housing includes a one-piece first housing portion forming the main outer surface and a cavity in which the battery and electronic circuit (extending in a circuit plane) are fully potted using a second material different from the housing material, with the first housing portion extending over both main surfaces of the circuit plane.

Significance. If the described geometry and potting arrangement can be manufactured and deployed as specified, the design offers a structurally integrated approach to protecting electronic components in livestock ear tags through complete cavity encapsulation within a unified outer housing, which may contribute to improved mechanical robustness and environmental sealing in field use.

Simulated Author's Rebuttal

0 responses · 0 unresolved

We thank the referee for their positive review of the manuscript and for recommending acceptance. The referee's summary accurately captures the claimed invention.

Circularity Check

0 steps flagged

No significant circularity

full rationale

This US patent application consists solely of a descriptive device claim specifying a one-piece housing geometry, cavity, and potting arrangement for an animal ear tag. No equations, derivations, predictions, fitted parameters, or logical chains are present. The claim stands as a proposed structural construction without any internal reduction to self-definition, self-citation, or renamed inputs. The document is self-contained as a patent specification and exhibits no circularity.

Axiom & Free-Parameter Ledger

0 free parameters · 0 axioms · 0 invented entities

No scientific model, equations, or derivations are present. The document is a mechanical and electronic assembly specification with no free parameters, axioms, or invented entities in the scientific sense.

pith-pipeline@v0.9.1-grok · 5687 in / 1055 out tokens · 54525 ms · 2026-06-10T13:31:19.104931+00:00 · methodology

Animal ear tag

Core claim

What carries the argument

If this is right

Where Pith is reading between the lines

Load-bearing premise

What would settle it

discussion (0)