the present invention relates to an improved clip for use with a gun to implant projectiles in animals . the clip not only forms a part of the implant instrument but is also an aseptic package for the implant projectiles containing a biologically active material which projectile may be used for inoculating animals by the nonlethal implantation of the projectile totally within a living animals . following implantation , the biologically active material is released in situ in the animal in response to interaction with the fluids and cells in the animal body . the gun , generally designated 10 , is adapted to receive the clip generally designated 15 to permit the implantation of a ballistic projectile with sufficient velocity to penetrate the epidermal covering of a living animal body and lodge totally within the body . the projectile will then present a biologically active material to the living body which material is released and assimilated by the body fluids and cells surrounding the implanted projectile . the clip 15 provides an aseptic package for protecting and then delivering a predetermined measured dosage of a biologically active material in a concentrated , freeze - dried form which will not be contaminated or diluted or subjected to other deleterious affects prior to the desired use of the projectile . the clip 15 of the present invention comprises a molded structure including a web 16 which is generally rectangular in shape having at one end a tapered edge 17 to facilitate the insertion of the clip into a transverse guide passage 18 in the housing of the gun 10 . on one surface of the web 16 and molded integrally therewith is a plurality of transversely positioned , equally spaced cylindrical chambers 20 having parallel axes . each of the chambers have opposite open ends and are formed with connected wall structures to make the structure more rigid . the chambers 20 are placed in a row along the web . one end of each chamber is closer to one edge of the web than the opposite end for purposes of registration within the gun 10 and one end of the row is spaced from said tapered edge 17 to provide a tongue on the clip . within each of the chambers 20 on the web 16 is a ballistic implant projectile 22 . the projectile 22 comprises a conical nose and annular walls defining a generally cylindrical body which may have a cavity containing the biologically active material . the projectile 22 can be made of any material which is capable of being projected with sufficient force to penetrate a living animal body and which will maintain its integrity , e . g ., will not shatter , on impacting and entering the animal body . any of the numerous biomedically approved plastics can be used with advantage and can be selected from among those which are either soluble or insoluble in the animal body . exemplary of useful insoluble materials are the synthetic organic polymers such as the polyolefins , e . g ., polyethylene and polypropylene ; polysiloxane ; polyamides , such as nylon ; fluorinated hydrocarbon resins ; abs polymers ( acrylonitrile butadiene - styrene polymers ) and the like . a suitable class of polymers which are soluble in animal bodies , e . g . cattle , are the cellulose derivatives such as hydroxypropyl cellulose , available commercially from the hercules powder co . under the trademark &# 34 ; klucel &# 34 ;. the use of soluble projectiles can be particularly advantageous since after implant the projectile will be solubilized in and eliminated from the animal &# 39 ; s body , eliminating the need to retrieve the projectile . the projectile 22 may be a 25 calibre projectile and the nose cone and the cavity opening to the rear of the projectile is loaded with a given dose of biologically active material . the biologically active material may include antigens , tranquilizers , vitamins , narcotics etc . bacterial cells or extracts may be added to the antigen preparations as adjuvants to provoke an increased immune response . the antigens should include materials which when administered to an animal will cause the formation of antibodies by the animal , such as the viruses , bacteria , and toxoids are well known in the art , and would be useful in the practice of this invention . narcotics may be administered to narcotize the animal . on the other surface of the molded structure are spaced transversely extending recesses 27 . the recesses 27 are indexing means and are positioned in corresponding spaced relation to the chambers 20 for positioning an associated chamber in aligned relationship to the barrel of the gun . there is one more recess , as shown most clearly in fig6 than there are chambers to index the clip initially in the gun 10 before the bolt is operated . each of the recesses 27 is formed by walls disposed to form a rectangularly shaped portion for receiving a spring - biased detent and the leading edge wall of each rectangular recess is provided with an arcuate wall portion 29 to receive and position a circular pawl to advance the clip transversely of the housing of the gun 10 to successively align each of the chambers 20 with the barrel of the gun 10 . each of the chambers 20 is sealed by a mechanically rupturable seal at each end to protect and aseptically package the projectile . to protect the projectile means to exclude from the chambers contaminates such as dirt , bacteria etc ., the chambers are sealed in a preferred embodiment by placing a sealing film 25 along the open end of the chambers and bonding the sealing film to the material of the clip defining the chambers at each of the open ends to individually seal each chamber at each end . the films 25 are preferably a laminate of 0 . 5 ( 0 . 0254 mm ) mil polyester and 1 . 5 mil polyethylene . the polyethylene surface is heat sealed to the molded structure to form a good impermeable bond with the molded structure around each chamber opening . the clip preferably is formed of a translucent high density polyethylene permitting the heat sealing of the film thereto . if it is desired that the chambers be hermetically sealed to exclude penetration by gases and moisture the sealing means should include an impermeable material such as heat sealable aluminum foil and the clip should be made of a plastic impermeable to gas and moisture , e . g ., a polyformaldehyde resin . the clip alternatively could be formed of injection moldable polyolefins or polyamides and other sealing films may be used . in operation , the breech of the gun has an obturator which penetrates the sealing means at one end of a chamber 20 aligned with the bore . the obturator then engages the projectile 22 forcing it to rupture the sealing film at the opposite end of the chamber and the obturator extends through the chamber forcing the projectile into the bore of the gun . fig5 illustrates a clip 15 where the sealing film is ruptured on one chamber at the lead end and the projectile has been spent or fired from the gun . the clip can then be removed until another implant is desired and the remaining chambers remain aseptically sealed . while the preferred form of the fire arm for launching or &# 34 ; shooting &# 34 ; the projectile into the animal uses compressed gas , preferably air , it is understood that the gun may use other launching devices such as an expanded gas similar to explosive charges . the projectiles useable in this clip are described in copending applications assigned to the assignee of this application and are identified as drake and paul , ser . no . 497 , 462 , filed aug . 14 , 1974 , now u . s . pat . no . 3 , 948 , 263 , issued apr . 6 , 1976 ; and krogseng and paul , ser . no . 524 , 121 , filed nov . 15 , 1974 , now u . s . pat . no . 3 , 982 , 536 , issued apr . 28 , 1976 . the molded structure is preferably translucent to permit inspection of the projectiles which are formed of material having a distinct color , preferably not including the reds , to color code various biologically active materials . this coding avoids possible confusion when implanting different materials at substantially the same period of time .
a clip for use with a gas - operated gun to package and supply to the gun hygienic projectiles for inoculating animals with a particular biologically active material . the clip contains a molded structure having a plurality of axially aligned adjacent cylindrical chambers receiving the implant projectile and each chamber is sealed by a rupturable sealing film at each end thereof . indexing recesses are provided on said structure and associated with each of the chambers for indexing the clip in the gun to dispose seriatim the chambers in alignment with the bore of the gun .