AU725824B2 - An implement for automatically milking animals - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act COMPLETE SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

Class Int. Class Application Number: Lodged: Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority Related Art: Name of Applicant: Maasland N.V.

Actual Inventor(s): KAREL VAN DEN BERG, RENE FRANSEN Address for Service: PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys 367 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 AUSTRALIA Invention Title: AN IMPLEMENT FOR AUTOMATICALLY MILKING ANIMALS Our Ref 608769 POF Code: 1556/253487 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to applicant(s): -1- 6006q AN IMPLEMENT FOR AUTOMATICALLY MILKING ANIMALS The present invention relates to an implement for the automatically milking of animals, such as cows, comprising a milk unit for the automatically connecting of the teat cups of the machine to the teats of the cow.

The invention aims at simplifying the milk unit construction.

According to this invention there is provided an apparatus for milking at least one animal including two milk boxes arranged side by side, each milk box including a robot arm construction for connecting teat cups to the teats of the at least one animal, the robot arm construction being arranged to pivot about a longitudinal axis located between the milk boxes and approximately at an upper side.

By performing a pivoting movement from the side of the milk box there will moreover be obtained the advantage that the robot arm can be adjusted into a position enabling to connect, in a reliable manner, the teat cups 15 to teats of the animal that are directed somewhat outwardly.

i It is also possible to move the robot arm construction in the **.longitudinal direction of the milk box by providing the robot arm construction with a supporting unit movable along one or more rails in the longitudinal direction of the milk box, relative to which supporting unit the pivotable portion of the robot arm construction is pivotable in sideward direction. In that case the supporting unit may be designed so as to be movable along the rails by means of a motor. The sideward pivoting movement can be achieved by means of a control cylinder which is active between the supporting unit and the pivotable portion of the robot arm construction. By designing the pivotable portion of the robot arm construction as a carrier extending substantially downwardly to which the robot arm is coupled, it is possible to achieve the movability in height of the robot arm. In a particular embodiment, parallel to the control cylinder enabling the movability in height of the robot arm, there may be provided one or more guide rods for counteracting a rotating movement of the robot arm relative to the carrier.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 shows a side view of a robot arm construction; C:wMy DOcumedsTONIA\BF\Diviionasl755.doc 2 Figure 2 is a front view of a milk box in which the robot arm construction of Figure 1 is shown schematically; Figure 3 is a front view of two milk boxes between which there is pivotably disposed a robot arm construction according to the invention.

In the drawings corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals.

The milk box 1 shown in Figure 1 accommodates one single animal.

Said milk box is surrounded in a customary manner by a fencing 2 and provided with a (non-shown) entrance and exit door. In the milk box and in the immediate vicinity thereof there is provided an automatic milking machine which, besides the usual milking equipment, includes a milking robot for automatically connecting teat cups to the teats of an animal to be milked which is present in the milk box, automatically milking said animal and automatically disconnecting the teat cups from the teats. The milking robot comprises a robot 15 arm construction 3 movable in the longitudinal direction of the milk box 1. Said Srobot arm construction is provided with a supporting unit 4 which is movable along rails 5 and 6. In Figures 1 and 2, the rail 5 is tubular and disposed in the middle above the milk box 1 in the longitudinal direction thereof by means of supports 7 attached to the fencing 2. The rail 6 is disposed approximately half- 20 way the height of the milk box at the longitudinal side of the fencing 2, i.e. at the side where the robot arm construction is located. The rail 6 is constituted by an angle section whose abutment face over which the supporting unit 4 can be moved is located at an angle of approximately 450 obliquely downwards and outwards relative to the milk box 1. Both at its upper side and its under side the supporting unit 4 is provided with rollers 9 and 10. In Figures 1 and 2, the rollers 9 and 10 are attached to the supporting unit 4 perpendicularly to each other and at an angle of approximately 450 relative to a vertical plane in the longitudinal direction of the milk box, in such a manner that the supporting unit 4 is supported on the rail 5 by means of the rollers 9 and on the rail 6 by means of the rollers 10. In order to prevent the supporting unit 4 from being pushed from the rails 5 and 6, there are provided locking means, e.g. constituted by an upright edge 11 provided on the rail 6 or constituted by additional (non-shown) rollers, also attached to the supporting unit 4 and arranged diametrically opposite the rollers 9 relative to the rail 5, the rail 5 thus extending between the CAMy DouetOI FDvsoaS175d rollers. The supporting unit 4 iscapable of being moved along the rails 5 and 6 by means of a motor 12.

The robot arm construction is furthermore provided with a sidewardly pivotable portion 13 comprising a carrier 14 extending substantially downwardly and a robot arm 15 attached thereto. The sidewardly pivotable portion 13 and consequently also the robot arm 15 are pivotable about a substantially horizontal pivotal axis 16 which is located at the upper side of the milk box or near thereto in the longitudinal direction thereof. Although, in Figures 1 and 2 the pivotal axis 16 is located approximately in the middle above the milk box, in the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 said pivotal axis constitutes the centre line of the material pivotal axis for the sidewardly pivotable portion 13. In Figures 1 ::.and 2, the pivotal axis 16 and the centre line of the rail 5 are located in a substantially vertical plane.

In the apparatus described so far, the sideward pivoting movement of 15 the portion 13 is achieved by means of a control cylinder 20 which is disposed between said pivotable portion 13 and the supporting unit 4. As already mentioned, the sidewardly pivotable portion 13 comprises the carrier 14 and the robot arm 15. The robot arm 15 is connected movably in height with the carrier 14 by means of a control cylinder 21. Parallel to this control cylinder 21 there 20 are provided one or more guide rods 22 for counteracting a rotating movement of the robot arm 15 about an axis in the longitudinal direction of the control cylinder 21 relative to the carrier 14.

The robot arm 15 comprises a portion 23 extending obliquely downwards in the direction of the milk box and a portion 24 extending horizontally. The latter portion 24 may be produced as the end piece of the robot arm construction as described in EP-A-O 360 354 or in EP-A-O 519 544, the description of this end piece as well as its function being considered to be inserted here. Said end piece is adapted to serve as a carrier for the teat cups and for the detector 26 by means of which the position of the teats can be determined.

In order to make it possible for an animal to enter the milk box 1 without damaging the milking robot, the sidewardly pivotable portion 13 of the robot arm construction is pivotable outwardly to such an extent that the robot arm 15 is located almost entirely outside the milk box 1. When an animal is C:Wy DocumentsJTONIA\BMsiflnaIs~l7755.doc present in the milk box and the teat cups 25 have to be connected, the robot arm construction 3 has first to be moved by means of the motor 12 in the longitudinal direction of the milk box to such an extent, i.e. into a position in which the robot arm 15 has pivoted entirely or almost entirely outside the milk box, that, by means of the control cylinder 20, the robot arm 15 can be pivoted under the animal into a position in which the detector 26 is capable of determining the position of the teats. By subsequently operating the motor 12 and the control cylinders 20 and 21, it will be possible to connect the teat cups to the teats. After milking, the teat cups may be disconnected from the teats in the way described in the aforementioned EP-A-O 360 354. When adjusting a teat cup into the right position for connecting same to a relevant teat, the pivotability of the robot arm 15 about the pivotal axis 16 may be of great advantage when the teats of the animal are directed somewhat outwardly; a situation which occurs in particular when relatively much time has elapsed since 15 the previous milking run.

Figure 3 shows the embodiment according to the invention in which there are provided two milk boxes arranged side by side, while the robot arm construction 3 is located in the space between the two milk boxes. The upper rail 5 along which the robot arm construction 3 is movable in the longitudinal S 20 direction of the milk boxes is attached by means of supports 27 to the fencing 2 of the two milk boxes, more in particular in the middle between said milk boxes.

In this case the supporting unit 4 is composed of two portions which are connected to each other by means of a connecting element 28 in which the rollers 9 are bearing-supported. By means of the rollers 9 the two portions of the supporting unit 4 bear on the rail 5. Each of the two portions of the supporting unit 4 is provided at its lower side with rollers 10, while each of the portions of the supporting unit 4 is supported in the same manner as in the embodiments shown in Figures 1 to 3. The pivotable portion 13 is capable of pivoting sidewardly to a limited extent towards both milk boxes by means of the control cylinder 20 which, also in this case, is disposed between said sidewardly pivotable portion 13 and the supporting unit 4. The pivotal axis 16 is then located under the rail 5. The carrier 14 is pivotable about the pivotal axis 16 relative to the supporting unit 4 by means of supports 29 attached to said supporting unit 4, at the ends of which supports 29 the material pivotal axis CAMy DocumentsTONIA\BFivsionaISXl?7 5 .doc extends; also in this case the pivotal axis 16 constitutes the centre line of the material pivotal axis. In this embodiment, the robot arm 15 is indeed connected movably in height with the carrier 14 by means of the control cylinder 21, but in this case the robot arm is also rotatable around the centre line of said control cylinder with the aid of pivoting means 30. In this case, the pivoting means are constituted by a motor 31 and transmission means, such as gear wheels 32.

When moving the robot arm construction in the longitudinal direction of the milk boxes, it is difficult to pivot the robot arm 15 sidewardly outside the two milk boxes, unless the space between the two milk boxes is relatively large. A rotative construction in which the robot arm 15 can be adjusted into an intermediate position, i.e. a position in which the portion 23 of the robot arm ::.extends in the space between the two milk boxes, and into an operative position in the two milk boxes, offers the possibility to use one and the same robot arm construction 3 for both milk boxes and to keep the space between the milk 15 boxes relatively small. However, because of the construction of the horizontal portion 24 of the robot arm 15, the two milk boxes have to be entered in opposite directions. The use of two milk boxes in the manner as described with **.reference to the embodiment shown in Figure 4 enables to milk an animal in one milk box, while in the other milk box the teats of the animal are already 20 cleaned so that, when the milking of an animal in one milk box has finished, the milking of the animal in the other milk box can start immediately.

Finally it is noticed that the milking robot comprises a computer for controlling the automatic connection of the teat cups, the automatic milking of the animals and the automatic disconnection of the teat cups after milking. In particular the above-described possibilities of movement of the robot arm 15 of the robot arm construction 3 are under control of the computer; in other words, the motors 12 and 31 and the control cylinders 20 and 21 are computercontrolled.

CAMy Douments\TONIA\BF\DMSiofnal8Sl7755.dc

Claims (14)

1. An apparatus for milking at least one animal including two milk boxes arranged side by side, each milk box including a robot arm construction for connecting teat cups to the teats of the at least one animal, the robot arm construction being arranged to pivot about a longitudinal axis located between the milk boxes and approximately at an upper side.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the robot arm construction is provided with a supporting unit movable along at one or more rail constructions in the longitudinal direction of the milk box, whereby the supporting unit is pivotable.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein there are provided at *least two rail constructions.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the supporting unit is movable along two rails disposed at different heights on fencing of the milk box. t.

5. An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein there are provided rollers by means of which the supporting unit is movable along the rails.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the supporting unit is movable along the rails by means of a motor.

7. An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein a sidewardly pivotable portion of the robot arm construction is capable of pivoting in sideward direction relative to the milk box by means of a control cylinder disposed between said pivotable portion and the supporting unit.

8. An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the robot arm construction includes a carrier for the robot arm, which carrier is pivotable about the pivotal axis and extends substantially downwardly. CXMy Documents\TONIAXBMDivsofanls\17755doc

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein the robot arm is connected movably in height with the carrier.

An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or 9, wherein the robot arm is movable in height relative to the carrier by means of a control cylinder disposed between the robot arm and the carrier.

11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 including one or more guide rods parallel to the control cylinder enabling the movability in height of the robot arm, for counteracting a rotating movement of the robot arm relative to the carrier. 0*

12. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein the sidewardly pivotable portion of the robot arm construction is pivotable outwardly to such an extent that the robot arm is located almost entirely outside the milk box.

13. An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the robot arm construction is provided with a supporting unit movable along at least one rail in the longitudinal direction of the milk box, relative to which supporting unit the pivotable portion of the robot arm construction is pivotable in sideward direction, the centre line of the rail being located in a substantially vertical plane through the pivotal axis. e

14. An apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein there are provided pivoting means for pivoting at least a lower part of the sidewardly pivotable portion of the robot arm construction around the centre line of the downwardly extending upper part of the sidewardly pivotable portion. DATED: 9 February, 2000 PHILLIPS ORMONDE FITZPATRICK Attorneys for: MAASLAND N.V. F~c ,O CiXy DOcumentsTOIA\BF\I)Ms Dnalsk17755.doc