JP2004298142A - Teat cup shell of milking machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a teat cup shell of a milking machine having relatively light weight and high strengths and resistant to the breakage, damage, undesirable deformation, or the like, even in the case of falling of the teat cup unit on the floor in milking. <P>SOLUTION: The teat cup shell body is made of a stainless steel. The thickness of the tip part of about 25 mm long is 2.0 mm, that of the adjacent intermediate part is 1.2 mm and those of rear part and nipple part are set to the ordinary thickness. The outer diameters of both ends of the intermediate part 1b are made to be equal to those of the adjacent parts to form a smooth outer surface of the shell. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a teat cup for a vacuum-pipe milking machine, and more particularly to an improved teat cup shell structure.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a teat cup of a vacuum-pipe type milking machine, the one shown in FIG. 4 is generally used. This teat cup is a substantially tubular shell formed of a soft rubber and having a folded portion near the tip end, which is formed of a shell composed of a substantially cylindrical hard shell body 1 and a nipple 2 joined near the rear end of the shell body. The nipple 2 is connected to a vacuum source for milking, and the rear end of the liner 3 is connected to a milk claw.
[0003]
Since the teat cup is used by directly attaching to the dairy cow, it is desirable that the teat cup has an optimal weight according to the individual difference of the dairy cow. Therefore, as a method of adjusting the weight of the teat cup, Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-37487 in which a cylindrical inner weight is attached to the inside of the shell main body, or a ring-shaped weight attached to a desired position outside the shell main body. No. 7-203791 has been proposed. As the base structure for mounting the weight, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-37487 uses a stainless steel shell main body, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-203791 uses a plastic resin shell.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The milking unit is required to be reduced in weight in order to reduce the labor for milking work such as transporting the unit, and it is desirable that the teat cup be as light as possible. In order to save labor, the milk claw and teat cup (teet cup unit) are pulled up at the end of milking using an automatic removal device, but for some reason the unit falls to the floor before pulling up and the teat cup is dropped. The cow may be trampled on the cow and the shell may be deformed to make it difficult to attach to the teat, or the hermetic seal between the shell and the liner may be lost and the shell may become unusable. Therefore, the teat cup needs to have a structure that is lightweight and has high compressive strength as much as possible and is resistant to deformation.
[0005]
When the shell body is made of stainless steel as in the case of Jitsuho 7-37487, the weight increases, and it is necessary to make the shell thin enough to reduce the weight, so that sufficient compressive strength cannot be obtained. was there. For example, when the thickness of the shell body is 1.2 mm in order to reduce the weight, the compressive strength is lower than that of the 2.0 mm shell body, which may cause deformation. On the other hand, when the shell body is made of a resin such as polycarbonate or a combination of a resin part and a stainless steel part as in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-203791, there is a possibility that cracks or scratches may occur when the cow is trampled or dropped.
[0006]
The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and is relatively lightweight and high in strength, especially when the teat cup unit falls to the floor during milking. It is intended to provide a cup shell. It is another object of the present invention to provide a teat cup shell that is lightweight and robust, has a simple structure, and is easy to manufacture.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention of claim 1 of the present application is directed to a teat cup shell of a vacuum-pipe type milking machine comprising a shell body and a nipple, wherein the tip of the shell body is made of relatively thick stainless steel, and The above-mentioned problem is solved by a teat cup shell characterized in that the adjacent portion is made of relatively thin stainless steel. That is, the tip portion, which is easily stressed, has sufficient strength, and the middle portion, etc., to which stress is less likely to be applied, is thinned to achieve both deformation prevention and weight reduction.
[0008]
The inventor has found that when the teat cup shell falls, it is often the case that the opening at the tip of the shell, which is turned sideways, is often trampled by a cow and the opening is crushed into an oval shape. Such a deformation is prevented by constituting with a thick stainless steel.
[0009]
The invention according to claim 2 of the present application is the teat cup shell of the milking machine according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the tip portion is 2.0 mm or more, and the thickness of the adjacent portion is less than 1.5 mm. Things. In a teat cup shell having a total length of 140 mm of the shell body, when the length of the tip is 25 mm, the thickness is 2.0 mm, and the thickness of the other parts is 1.2 mm, the total thickness is 1.2 mm. The increase in mass was about 22 g as compared with that of the sample, and the compressive strength was also at a level without any problem.
[0010]
The invention according to claim 3 of the present application is the teat cup shell of the milking machine according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the rear end portion and the nipple of the shell main body are thicker than an intermediate portion adjacent to the front end portion. Of stainless steel. The rear end portion and the nipple, which are likely to be stressed next to the front end portion, are also thickened to have sufficient strength to prevent deformation of the portion when stepped on. On the other hand, the middle part where the stress is not easily applied is made thinner and lighter.
[0011]
In the shell body having such a configuration, when the thickness of the front end portion, the rear end portion, and the nipple is set to a normal thickness, and the thickness of the middle portion is set to about 1.0 mm to 1.2 mm, both weight and strength can be satisfied. It has a teat cup structure.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, typical embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a sectional view of the whole teat cup of a milking machine according to the present invention. The teat cup shell of this embodiment comprises a substantially cylindrical shell body 1 having a slightly enlarged tip and a nipple 2 branching from the vicinity of the rear end. The shell main body 1 includes a front end portion 1a, an intermediate portion 1b, and a rear end portion 1c made of stainless steel. In this embodiment, the tip 1a occupies about 25 mm of the total length of about 140 mm. The tip portion 1a, the rear end portion 1c, and the nipple 2 each have a thickness of 2.0 mm, and the middle portion has a thickness of 1.2 mm.
[0013]
In order to manufacture the teat cup shell of the present embodiment, the front end portion 1a, the intermediate portion 1b, and the rear end portion 1c are individually formed from a steel pipe, and then the ends are butted and the periphery is welded to obtain the shell main body 1. A small hole is formed near the rear end, and the end of the nipple 2 is welded around the small hole. In this embodiment, the outer diameter is equal at both ends of the intermediate portion 1b and adjacent portions before and after the both ends. Since there is no irregularity on the outside of the teat cup in this way, there is an advantage that dust is hardly adhered when dropped on the floor or the like, which is sanitary, and that wiping, washing and the like are easy.
[0014]
A substantially tubular liner 3 made of soft rubber and having a folded portion 3a near the tip is fitted from the tip side of the teat cup shell manufactured as described above, and the folded portion is engaged with the tip 1a of the shell body. Then, an integrated teat cup is obtained.
[0015]
FIG. 2 shows another method of manufacturing the shell body 1. In this method, the tip portion 1a, the middle portion 1b, and the rear end portion 1c are not individually formed. Instead, for example, a portion corresponding to the middle portion 1b of a stainless steel pipe having a length including the tip portion 1a and the middle portion 1b. To a desired thickness. Thereafter, this part and the end of the rear end 1c are welded. Conversely, the intermediate portion 1b and the rear end 1c may be formed first. In this case, there is an advantage that the number of parts is reduced and the manufacturing is simplified.
[0016]
FIG. 3 shows still another method of manufacturing the shell body 1. In this method, a portion corresponding to the distal end portion 1a and the intermediate portion 1b from the distal end side of the shell body 1 is formed of a stainless steel pipe having a thickness of about 1.2 mm, and has an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the component. An 8 mm stainless steel weight ring 4 is press-fitted from the distal end side to obtain a 1.2 mm thick intermediate portion 1b and a 2.0 mm thick distal end portion 1a. This method has the advantage that no welding is required to manufacture the shell body 1 and the number of parts is small. Since the weight ring 4 is mounted inside the teat cup, there is no risk of causing a hygienic problem.
[0017]
【The invention's effect】
In the teat cup shell of the milking machine according to the present invention, since the weight of the unit can be reduced while securing the strength necessary for preventing deformation, there is an effect that the labor of milking work such as transporting the unit can be reduced.
[0018]
Since the entire teat cup can be made of stainless steel with the teat cup shell of the present invention, cracks and scratches due to falling to the floor, rubbing, and the like are less likely to occur. Conventionally, products made of a combination of resin and stainless steel have had problems such as cow barn dirt adhering to the surface seam, making it difficult to clean and wash, but the shell of the present invention is entirely the same material It is hygienic because it can eliminate seams on the surface.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view including a nipple center axis of a teat cup shell according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a similar sectional view according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view according to still another embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view including a nipple center axis of a conventional teat cup.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Shell main body 1a Tip part 1b Intermediate part 1c Rear end part 2 Nipple 3 Liner 4 Weight ring

Claims (3)

In a teat cup shell of a vacuum-pipe type milking machine comprising a shell body and a nipple, a distal end portion of the shell body is made of relatively thick stainless steel, and at least an adjacent portion on the rear side is made of relatively thin stainless steel. A teat cup shell made of steel. The teat cup shell of a milking machine according to claim 1, wherein the tip portion has a thickness of 2.0 mm or more and the adjacent portion has a thickness of 1.5 mm or less. 4. The teat cup shell of a milking machine according to claim 1, wherein a rear end portion and a nipple of the shell main body are made of stainless steel having a greater thickness than an intermediate portion.

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