Device and method for automatically milking cows
AssigneeProlion B.V.
InventorsPieter Adriaan Oosterling, Jacobus Petrus Maria Dessing
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to a sensor device for use, for example, in an automatic milking device and, in particular, for detecting the positions of the teats of an animal which is to be milked. The sensor device comprises a number of radiation sources which generate non-divergent radiation beams which have different positions and/or directions which are known in the control unit. The reflections from the irradiated object are detected using detectors, and there are means for distinguishing between the reflections from the various radiation sources, so that the control unit is able to establish the position of the object.
Claims11
Sensor device for determining the position and possibly the size of an object, such as for example the position of a teat (T;
- T1, T2, T3, T4) of an animal (1) which is to be milked, comprising a radiation source (18, 20;
- 24, 27, 30) for generating a non-divergent radiation beam, such as laser radiation, a detector (13, 15;
- 19, 21;
- 25, 26, 28) for detecting the reflection of the radiation beam from the object (T;
- T1, T2, T3, T4) which is present in the operating area, and a control unit (c) for using the direction of the radiation beam and the detected reflection to calculate the position, and possibly the size, of the object, characterized in that the sensor device comprises a number of radiation sources (30), the radiation beams from which have different positions and/or directions which are known in the control unit, and means are provided for establishing the radiation source associated with a detected reflection:
Sensor device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the radiation sources (30) are mounted in a line next to one another in sensor units (29), the radiation beams optionally being parallel.
Milking device for automatically milking animals (1), comprising a milking stall (2), milking cups (12), a manipulator (8) for placing the milking cups (12) around the teats (T;
- T1, T2, T3, T4) of an udder of a cow, a sensor device for determining the position of the teats and a control unit (C) for controlling the device, characterized in that the sensor device is designed according to one of the preceding claims.
Sensor unit (29) for use in a device according to one of the preceding claims, provided with a number of radiation sources (30) which are positioned in a line next to one another, characterized in that the radiation sources generate non-divergent, parallel radiation beams, and the sensor unit (29) is provided with switching means for activating the radiation sources (30) successively.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.