On-farm separation of milk components
AssigneeDEC International NZ Limited
InventorRodney Wayne Claycomb
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A robotic milking system includes a stall wherein dairy animals enter one at a time to be milked automatically. A holding tank receives successive measures of milk from successive dairy animals. Separation devices receive the successive measures of milk from the holding tank to separate components from the milk.
Claims12
An apparatus for on-farm separation of at least one milk component from milk, the apparatus comprising:
- (i) a robotic milking device having a stall for milking a dairy animal and which is adapted to allow one dairy animal to freely enter at any time;
- (ii) a first holding vessel connected to the stall for receiving successive measures of milk from successive dairy animals;
- (iii) at least one first separation device connected to said first holding vessel for receiving the successive measures of milk and separating each measure of milk into at least one refined milk component according to at least one physicochemical property of the component and a residual milk measure, and
- (iv) a bulk tank connected to each separation device for accumulating the successive residual milk measures.
A method for on-farm separation of at least one milk component from the milk produced by a plurality of dairy animals, comprising the steps of:
- (i) extracting a measure of milk from one of said dairy animals in a stall of a robotic milking device adapted to allow one dairy animal to freely enter at any time;
- (ii) passing said measure of milk to a holding vessel feeding at least one separation device;
- (iii) operating said at least one separation device to separate said measure of milk into at least one refined milk component according to at least one physicochemical property of the component and a residual milk measure;
- and
- (iv) repeating steps (i) to (iii) in turn for each of said plurality of dairy animals.
An apparatus for on-farm separation of at least one milk component from milk, the apparatus comprising:
- (i) a robotic milking device having a stall for milking a dairy animal and which is adapted to allow one dairy animal to freely enter at any time;
- (ii) a first holding vessel connected to the stall for receiving successive measures of milk from successive dairy animals;
- (iii) at least one first separation device connected to said first holding vessel for receiving the successive measures of milk and separating each measure of milk into said at least one milk component and a residual milk measure;
- (iv) a bulk tank connected to each separation device for accumulating the successive residual milk measures;
- (v) a second holding vessel connected to said stall for receiving successive measures of milk from respective dairy animals in alternation with the first holding vessel;
- (vi) at least one second separation device connected to said second holding vessel for receiving the respective measures of milk and separating each measure of milk into said at least one milk component and a residual milk measure;
- and
- (vii) a conduit for passing residual milk measures from the second separation device to the bulk tank.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.