Process and apparatus for taking a representative milk sample

A process for taking a representative milk sample during delivery of a milk charge from a tank into a collecting tank by a feed pump, comprising:

• inputting supplier data and data for the milk charge into a data acquisition unit;
• supplying the inputted data to a means for controlling a sampling means;
• taking the representative milk sample using said sampling means and a peristaltic pump;
• storing delivery capacity of the feed pump as an acceptance characteristic (A) of the milk charge to be accepted;
• storing number of revolutions (n) of the peristaltic pump as a pumping characteristic (P) of the rotary velocity of the peristaltic pump for a volume (z) of the milk sample to be delivered;
• wherein the delivery capacity of the feed pump during the acceptance of the milk charge is defined by the control means as a function of the volume of the milk charge to be accepted in view of the acceptance characteristic (A);
• and
• wherein the number of revolutions of the peristaltic pump is controlled by the control means as a function of the rotary velocity in view of the pumping characteristic (P), and the rotary velocity of the peristaltic pump is defined as a function of the delivery capacity selected with respect to the acceptance characteristic (A).