Data entry systems

A system for correlating numbers indicative of amounts of milk with identifications of cows in a dairy herd comprising:

• an identification tag affixed to each of said cows, each of said tags comprising a bar code encoding a respective identification symbol assigned to the cow to which it is affixed;
• a plurality of containers, each container having associated therewith bar coded means for providing a plurality of respective bar coded segments, said bar coded means being positioned with respect to said each container so that the number encoded by each respective segment corresponds to a respective amount of milk in said each container;
• scanner means for reading the bar coded cow identification symbols from said tags, and for reading a selected bar coded number from a segment of each of said bar coded means;
• memory means for storing said symbols and numbers;
• and
• means for correlating each identification symbol of a cow with a corresponding number.

Method of correlating the amount of milk in a vessel produced by a cow with an identification of said cow, comprising the steps of:

• affixing an identification tag to said cow, said tag comprising a bar code encoding a symbol indicative of the identity of the cow;
• providing on said vessel a plurality of bar coded segments, said segments encoding respective numbers corresponding to respective amounts of milk in said vessel, and positioning said segments so as to correspond to the level of milk in said vessel when it contains said respective amounts;
• scanning the bar coded identification symbol of said cow from its identification tag;
• scanning the one of said segments encoding the number corresponding to the amount of milk in said vessel;
• storing the bar codes thus read;
• and
• correlating the bar code identifying said cow to the segment indicative of the amount of milk in said vessel.

A system for identifying each cow in a herd and for correlating identification of said cow with milk produced by said cow, the system comprising;

• machine-readable identification tag means for providing an encoded symbol indicative of a cow's identity affixed to the cow;
• label means attached in predetermined relation to a milk vessel containing milk produced by said cow, for providing machine-readable endoded symbols indicative of relative amounts of milk in said vessel;
• scanner means for scanning said identification tag and for scanning said label means;
• means for decoding and storing the symbols read by said scanner means;
• and
• means for correlating identification of the cows with the symbols read from the label.