Milk extracting system and computer implemented method
AssigneeDeLaval Holding AB
InventorsPeter Bahlenberg, Carl Oskar Paulrud
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A milk extracting system and computer-implemented method of adjusting the vacuum pressures applied respectively at different teat cups for milking the teats of an animal during a milk extraction procedure, where a teat-specific milk flow value is determined for each individual teat during the milk extraction, based on measurements received from respective milk flow meters, each determined teat specific milk flow value is compared with a first threshold limit, and when a determination is made that all of the teat specific milk flow values exceed the first threshold limit the vacuum pressure at each teat cup is adjusted to a high flow vacuum pressure level.
Claims13
A milk extracting system (100), comprising:
- a plurality of teat cups, configured for attachment to teats of an animal (110) during milk extraction;
- a plurality of milk evacuation tubes, each milk evacuation tube connected to a respective teat cup of said teat cups;
- a vacuum pump (130), configured to generate a vacuum pressure;
- a milk tank (140), connected to each of said teat cups via the milk evacuation tubes and also connected to the vacuum pump (130);
- a plurality of valve devices, each valve device configured to control a vacuum pressure applied at a corresponding one of said teat cups;
- a plurality of milk flow meters, each one of said flow meters configured to measure a milk flow of one teat of the teats of the animal (110);
- a processing node (170) communicatively connected to each one of the milk flow meters;
- and
- a vacuum regulator (180) configured to adjust, via the valve devices, the respective vacuum pressures at the teat cups based on instructions obtained from the processing node,
- wherein the processing node (170) is configured to
- determine a teat specific milk flow value of each individual teat of the animal (110), during milk extraction of the teat, based on milk flow measurements of each respective milk flow meter,
- compare each determined teat specific milk flow value with a first threshold limit (301),
- detect whether all of the determined teat specific milk flow values exceed the first threshold limit (301), and
- when all the determined teat specific milk flow values are detected as having exceeded the first threshold limit (301), generate a command to the vacuum regulator (180) to adjust each of the respective vacuum pressures at the teat cups from an entry vacuum pressure level (E) to a high flow vacuum pressure level (H), said high flow vacuum pressure level (H) being greater in magnitude than said entry vacuum pressure level (E).
A computer-implemented method (400) of adjusting respective vacuum pressures at teat cups of a milk extracting system (100) during a milk extraction operation, each one of the teat cups applied onto a respective teat of the animal (110) to be milked, and the respective vacuum pressures at the teat cups is set to an entry vacuum pressure level (E), the method (400) comprising the steps of:
- determining (403), via measurements from milk flow meters, a teat specific milk flow value of each teat of the animal (110) during milk extraction of the teat, each milk flow meter configured to measure a milk flow of one respective teat of the animal (110);
- comparing (404) each determined (403) teat specific milk flow value with a first threshold limit (301);
- detecting (405) whether all of the determined (403) teat specific milk flow values exceed the first threshold limit (301);
- and
- determining that all the determined teat specific milk flow values in said detecting step have exceeded the first threshold limit (301), and adjusting (406) each of the respective vacuum pressures of the teat cups from the entry vacuum pressure level (E) to a high flow vacuum pressure level (H), said high flow vacuum pressure level (H) having being greater in magnitude than said entry vacuum pressure level (E).
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.