Vacuum pump arrangement for a milking plant
AssigneeDeLaval Holding AB
InventorsFredrik Palmer, Lars Wiberg
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A vacuum pump arrangement for a milking plant includes a main vacuum conduit with at least two vacuum pump units for maintaining a system vacuum in the main vacuum conduit. Each of the vacuum pump units includes a pump, a vacuum tank connected to the pump by an intermediate conduit, and an inlet conduit connecting the vacuum tank to the main vacuum conduit. A drainage extends from the vacuum tank and includes a draining valve. The pump sucks air from the main vacuum conduit via the inlet conduit, the vacuum tank and the intermediate conduit. The vacuum pump unit includes a closing valve provided on the inlet conduit and configured to close the inlet conduit in an automatic manner when the pump has been stopped.
Claims17
A vacuum pump arrangement for a milking plant, the vacuum pump arrangement comprising:
- a main vacuum conduit;
- and
- at least two vacuum pump units arranged to maintain a system vacuum in the main vacuum conduit, each of the vacuum pump units comprising
- i) a pump,
- ii) a vacuum tank connected to the pump by an intermediate conduit,
- iii) at least a first inlet conduit connecting the vacuum tank to the main vacuum conduit,
- iv) a drainage extending from the vacuum tank and comprising a draining valve, the intermediate conduit extended from the vacuum tank to the pump, and
- v) a first closing valve provided on the first inlet conduit and defining an airpath from the vacuum tank to the main vacuum conduit,
- wherein the pump is configured to suck air from the main vacuum conduit to the pump via a path defined by the first inlet conduit, the vacuum tank and the intermediate conduit, and
- wherein the first closing valve provided on the first inlet conduit is configured to close the first inlet conduit in an automatic manner when the pump has been stopped thereby closing the airpath from the vacuum tank to the main vacuum conduit and allowing, without shutting down the system vacuum in the main vacuum conduit, the draining valve to open the drainage when the pump has been stopped and the first closing valve has been closed, thereby permitting liquid collected in the vacuum tank to escape via the drainage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.