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US 12,616,157 B2Granted
Milking system and methods with pre- and post-dip in the teat liner
AssigneeGEA Farm Technologies GmbH
InventorsMatthew J. Stuessel, Jeffrey S. Hanson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Milking diary animals involves manually attaching a milking cluster to the dairy animals teats. While the dairy animal's teats are in the liners of the teat cups, pre-dip, milking, and post-dip processes are performed. The milking cluster then detaches from the dairy animal's teats. The system can be implemented in a parallel line, rotary, or herringbone parlor configuration.
Claims14
A dairy animal milking system, comprising:
- a good milk container;
- a bad milk container;
- a pre-dip storage container;
- a post-dip storage container;
- and
- a milking stall configured to accommodate a dairy animal for milking, the milking stall comprising
- a milking cluster comprising a plurality of teat cups, a liner arranged at least partially in each of the plurality of teat cups, and a pulsation chamber arranged between each of the plurality of teat cups and the liner at least partially arranged therein;
- a support affixed to one of the sides of the milking stall and configured for detachment of the milking cluster from the one of the sides of the milking stall;
- a first fluid line fluidically coupling, via at least one first valve, an interior of each of the plurality of liners to the pre-dip storage container and fluidically coupling, via at least one second valve, the interior of each of the plurality of liners to the post-dip storage container;
- a second fluid line fluidically coupling, via at least one third valve, a downstream end of each of the plurality of liners with the good milk container and fluidically coupling, via at least one fourth valve, the downstream end of each of the plurality of liners with the bad milk container;
- a pulsator fluidically coupled with the pulsation chamber between each of the plurality of teat cups and the liners arranged at least partially therein;
- a switch;
- and
- a processor coupled to the at least one first valve, the at least one second valve, the at least one third valve, the at least one fourth valve, the pulsator, and the switch, wherein, responsive to activation of the switch, the processor is configured to
- control the at least one first valve to fluidically couple the pre-dip storage container with an interior of each of the plurality liners and control the at least one fourth valve to fluidically couple the bad milk container with the downstream end of each of the plurality liners;
- control the pulsator to apply a first pulsation rate to the pulsation chamber between each of the plurality of teat cups the liners arranged at least partially therein while the pre-dip is being supplied;
- control the at least one first valve to isolate the pre-dip storage container from the interior of each of the plurality of liners;
- change, after isolating the pre-dip storage container, a pulsation rate of the pulsator of pulses applied to the pulsation chamber between each of the plurality of teat cups and the liners to a pulsation ratio with an increased percentage of closing time of the teat cups;
- control a water valve to open to supply water to lines coupling the liners to a manifold of the milking cluster and then control the water valve to close;
- control an air valve to open to supply air to the lines coupling the liners to the manifold of the milking cluster and then control the air valve to close;
- control at least one third valve to fluidically couple the downstream end of each of the plurality of liners with the good milk container;
- control, after the pulsator changes the pulsation rate of the pulsator to the pulsation ratio with an increased percentage of closing time of the teat cups and while the downstream end of each of the plurality of liners is fluidically coupled with the good milk container, the pulsator to apply a second pulsation rate to the pulsation chamber between each of the plurality of teat cups the liners arranged at least partially therein;
- and
- control the at least one second valve to fluidically couple the post-dip storage container with the interior of each of the plurality of liners, control the at least one third valve to fluidically isolate the good milk container from the downstream end of each of the plurality of liners, and control the at least one fourth valve to fluidically couple the bad milk container to the downstream end of each of the plurality of liners.
21 more elements
A method for milking a dairy animal, the method comprising:
- manually attaching a milking cluster of a milking system to the dairy animal by manually inserting each of a plurality of teats of the dairy animal into a corresponding one of a plurality of teat cups, wherein each of the plurality of teat cups includes a corresponding liner at least partially disposed within the teat cup;
- activating a milking of the dairy animal with the manually attached milking cluster, wherein the milking of the dairy animal comprises
- controlling at least one first valve to fluidically couple a pre-dip storage container with an interior of each of the plurality of liners via a first fluid line and controlling at least one fourth valve to fluidically couple a bad milk container with the downstream end of each of the plurality of liners;
- performing a pre-dip application on each of the plurality of teats by supplying pre-dip to the interior of each of the plurality liners;
- operating a pulsator at a first pulsation rate to a pulsation chamber arranged between each of the teat cups and each of the corresponding liners and directing the pre-dip to a waste milk line;
- controlling the at least one first valve to isolate the pre-dip storage container from the interior of each of the plurality of liners;
- changing, by the pulsator and after isolating the pre-dip storage container, a pulsation ratio of pulses applied to the pulsation chamber between each of the plurality of teat cups to a pulsation ratio with an increased percentage of closing time of the teat cups;
- controlling a water valve to open to supply water to lines coupling the liners to a manifold of the milking cluster and then control the water valve to close;
- controlling an air valve to open to supply air to the lines coupling the liners to the manifold of the milking cluster and then control the air valve to close;
- controlling at least one third valve to fluidically couple the downstream end of each of the plurality of liners with a good milk container;
- operating, after the pulsator stops applying the pulses and while the downstream end of each of the plurality of liners is fluidically coupled with the good milk container, the pulsator at a second pulsation rate to the pulsation chamber to draw milk from each of the plurality of teats;
- controlling at least one second valve to fluidically couple a post-dip storage container with the interior of each of the plurality of liners via the first fluid line, controlling the at least one third valve to fluidically isolate the good milk container from the downstream end of each of the plurality of liners, and controlling the at least one fourth valve to fluidically couple the bad milk container to the downstream end of each of the plurality of liners;
- and
- performing, after drawing milk from each of the plurality of teats, a post-dip application on each of the plurality of teats by supplying post-dip to the interior of each of the plurality liners;
- and
- detaching the milking cluster by removing each of the plurality of teats from the corresponding one of the plurality of teat cups.
13 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.