Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01J—MANUFACTURE OF DAIRY PRODUCTS
  • A01J7/00—Accessories for milking machines or devices
  • A01J7/02—Accessories for milking machines or devices for cleaning or sanitising milking machines or devices
  • A01J7/025—Teat cup cleaning, e.g. by rinse jetters or nozzles
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
  • A01J—MANUFACTURE OF DAIRY PRODUCTS
  • A01J5/00—Milking machines or devices
  • A01J5/017—Automatic attaching or detaching of clusters
  • A01J5/0175—Attaching of clusters

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a device for cleaning teat cups used for milking dairy animals.
• the teat cups hang upside-down from a teat cup magazine around the knee-height of the operator who can lift them and fit them onto the teat of the animal without having to bend. Once the milking of a teat is complete the teat cup is automatically released and it falls away from the teat and again is hung upside-down from the teat cup magazine.
• a milking robot it is no longer necessary to provide a raised milking platform or operator pit in order to have the udder at chest height. This is because the operator is replaced by a milking robot which can be mounted at the correct height to access the udder and teats.
• One way of cleaning teat cups is known form the milking apparatus shown in EP-A 0 213 660.
• This device provides each teat cup with a milk line and a traction cable.
• the traction cable which follows the teat cup to its position under the animal being milked, is used to remove the teat cup from a teat, retract it until it hangs upside-down from a stop and then to lower it onto a vertically projecting sprayer which cleans the inside of the teat cup.
• a problem with the prior art device is that it requires each teat cup to have a traction line as well as a milk line. This increases the complexity and cost of the milking apparatus and carries the risk that the animal being milked will become entangled with the traction line. Furthermore if a teat cup oscillates as it is being lowered onto a sprayer there is a risk that it will miss the sprayer and not be cleaned or it may fall onto the floor and become even dirtier. Therefore in the prior art device it is necessary to wait until the teat cup has stopped oscillating before lowering it onto the sprayer. This wastes time.
• the object of the invention is to solve the above stated problems.
• the present invention solves the above stated problems by means of a device having the features mentioned in the characterising part of claim 1. Further improvements are obtained having the features mentioned in the dependent claims.
• each teat cup in a milking apparatus can be retracted by means of its milk line to a waiting position in a teat cup magazine.
• the teat cups are easily accessible by a robot arm which can grip a teat cup and carry it to its working position on the teat of the diary animal being milked.
• the milk line is suspended from the frame of the milking apparatus over a movable retraction pulley which is operated by a retraction line which is positioned on the opposite side of the frame of the milking apparatus to the animal being milked and therefore is unable to become entangled in the animal.
• the teat cups are cleaned by being dropped into a cleaning device such as a storage and cleaning box which is positioned under the teat cup magazine.
• a cleaning device such as a storage and cleaning box which is positioned under the teat cup magazine.
• guidance means are provided to guide the teat cups into the cleaning device.
• the guidance means are inclined chutes which have sufficiently large dimensions such that they can be sure of catching the teat cups when they are released from the magazine.
• chutes are positioned so close to the teat cup magazine so that it is ensured that even oscillating teat cups will be caught by the guide chutes.
• the chutes are movable to a position further away from the magazine so that they do not obstruct access to the teat cups when they are supported in the magazine. This facilitates gripping of the teat cups by a robot arm.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a cleaning device in a voluntary milking system in accordance with the invention when the teat cups are held in a teat cup magazine.
• Figure 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of a guidance portion in accordance with the invention.
• FIG. 1 shows part of a milking apparatus 1 equipped with a storage and cleaning device 3 in accordance with the invention. Parts of the milking apparatus 1 which are not relevant for the present invention have been omitted from the figures for the sake of clarity of illustration.
• the milking apparatus has a teat cup magazine 5 for retracting and storing teat cups 7'-7"".
• the teat cups 7'-7"" are on the ends of milk lines 9 '-9'"' which are supported by retraction pulleys 11 '-11"" suspended on retraction cables 13'- 13”" which are attached to the pistons 15'- 15"" of cylinder and piston pneumatic actuators 17'- 17”" mounted on the frame (omitted for clarity of illustration) of the milking apparatus 1.
• the air supply to the cylinder 15' of the actuator 17' for the retraction mechanism of the teat cup 7' is vented to atmosphere so that the milk line 9' can drop freely under the influence of gravity as the teat cup is manoeuvred to the teat 21.
• the teat cup T can be retracted to the magazine 5 by retracting piston 15' until teat cup T reaches stop 19'.
• a storage and cleaning box 29 is positioned below the teat cup magazine 5.
• the storage and cleaning box 29 comprises a guidance portion comprising guide chutes 31 '-31 " " and a cleaning and storage portion 33.
• the guide chutes 31'-31 "” are positioned vertically below the position that the teat cups 7'-7"" take up when retracted into the teat cup magazine 5 and are intended to intercept the teat cups 7 '-7'"' when they are allowed to fall from the teat cup magazine 5 and to guide them into the cleaning and storage portion 33.
• the guide portion preferably comprises an equal number of chutes 31 '-31 '"' as there are teat cups 7'-7"", each chute 31 '-31 '"' being positioned below a teat cup 31 '-31 '"'.
• the chutes 31 '-31 '"' preferably have a U- shaped cross-section and are preferably wider than the maximum width of a teat cup 7'-7"" and are positioned so that even if a teat cup 7 oscillates as it falls then it will still land in its chute 31.
• the teat cups 7'-7"" can still be extracted from and retracted into the magazine 5 by inclining them and retraction guide ramps 35 can be placed on the side of the chutes 31 '-31 "" facing towards the robot 27 to facilitate their retraction.
• the short distance between the base of the magazine 5 and the guide chutes 31 '-31 “ " can be chosen so that even if the teat cups 7'-7"" oscillate in the plane perpendicular to the transverse axis of the magazine 5 the amplitude of oscillation will be restricted by the teat cups 7'-7"" coming into contact with the tops of the guide chutes 31'-31 “ “ .
• Figure 2 shows the milking apparatus 1 of figure 1 when the teat cups 7'-7"" are positioned in the cleaning and storage portion 33 of storage and cleaning box 29.
• the pistons 15'-15"" of actuators 17'-17"" are fully extended and retraction pulleys H'-l l"" are in their lowest positions.
• Milk lines 9 '-9'"' have fallen under the influence of gravity to their lowest positions and teat cups 7'-7"" have been intercepted by guide chutes 31'-31”” and guided to their cleaning and storing positions in cleaning and storing portion 33.
• FIG. 3 shows storage and cleaning box 29 in detail.
• Cleaning and storage portion 33 comprises a number of retaining walls 37 '-37"'" which form four compartments 39'-39"" each intended to receive a teat cup 7'-7"".
• Each compartment 39'-39"" is provided with cleaning means such as spray outlets 41 '-41'"' which can emit sprays of cleaning fluid (shown as dotted lines) in order to clean the outside of teat cups 7'-7"".
• Cleaning and storage portion 33 is provided with an outlet 43 for used cleaning fluid and is preferably tilted slightly in the direction of outlet 43 in order to facilitate the draining away of used cleaning fluid.
• cleamng and storage portion 33 can optionally be provided with sprayers or brushes (not shown) which project substantially horizontally into the open ends of each teat cup 7 '-7'"' when they are in their cleaning and storage positions. These sprayers can be made retractable in order to avoid obstructing the movement of the teat cups 7'-7"".
• storage and cleaning box 29 is movable from a storage and cleaning position in which it is just below the magazine 5 and therefore can easily and reliably catch teat cups 7'-7"", to an idle position in which it is moved away from the magazine 5, either vertically downwards or to one side, in order to improve the access of the robot arm 27 to the teat cups 7'-7"".
• the storage and cleamng box 29 can be arranged on the floor beside the milking stall or, in the event that the stall is placed beside an operator pit or trench (for example when the milking robot is retrofitted into an old milking building), it can be suspended above the floor. The latter also facilitates cleaning of the storage and cleaning box 29. It is also conceivable in a device in accordance with the invention to separate the storage and cleaning functions.
• a further embodiment of the invention (shown schematically in figure 4) comprises a funnel-like guidance portion 45 which guides the teat cups into a storage box 47 which is not provided with cleaning means. Separate cleaning means can be provided elsewhere.
• the main purpose of the storage box can therefore be to prevent the teat cups and milk lines from coming into contact with the floor.
• guidance means can be provided which guide the teat cups into a position under or between cleaning means such as sprayers or nozzles or the like.
• the length of the guidance part can be so long that when the teat cups reach the end of the guidance path they are suspended above the floor or a drainage hole. They can then be cleaned there and left to drain, suspended above the floor or drainage hole, until needed again.

Landscapes

• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Animal Husbandry (AREA)
• Environmental Sciences (AREA)
• Cleaning In General (AREA)
• Feeding And Watering For Cattle Raising And Animal Husbandry (AREA)
• Brushes (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20412362

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (4)

Families Citing this family (2)

Family Cites Families (5)

• 1998
  • 1998-08-26 SE SE9802854A patent/SE512790C2/sv unknown
• 1999
  • 1999-08-18 EP EP99946493A patent/EP1107663A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1999-08-18 WO PCT/SE1999/001398 patent/WO2000011934A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1999-08-18 AU AU58893/99A patent/AU5889399A/en not_active Abandoned

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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