Method and an apparatus for examination of milking animals
AssigneeDeLaval Holding AB
InventorMats Nilsson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and an apparatus for examining at least a first animal, milked in a milking machine, comprising an identification device for identifying said animal, a storing device for storing said identification in a data base, a locating device for finding the position of the teats of said animal, a cleaning device for cleaning the teats of the animal, an applying device for applying teat cups to the teats of said animal, and a capturing device for capturing at least one image of at least a part of said animal. The image captured in relation to identification of the animal is stored in the data base, and the captured image is presented for a user through a viewing device coupled to the data base.
Claims17
A method for examining an animal belonging to a herd of animals being milked in a milking system including at least one automatic milking machine and where said animal presents itself for milking in said automatic milking machine, comprising the steps of:
- identifying said animal by means of an identification device, for establishing the identity of said animal,
- identifying the position of the teats of said animal,
- automatically capturing at least a first image of the teats, using information about the position of the teats, by means of a camera device,
- characterized in that it further comprises the steps of:
- storing said at least first image in a database in relation to at least the identity of said animal, for later retrieval,
- retrieving said at least first image from said database upon request from a user selecting said stored image,
- presenting said at least first image on a viewing device in a form suitable for visually inspection of the teats using said captured at least first image.
The method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said viewing and/or selecting device is a personal computer comprising a screen.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.