CN212937238U - Milking system for dairy animals - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to a milk animal milking system, it is used for milking completely the milk animal, include: a milking place, such as a milking box, accessible to said dairy animal; a plurality of teat cups to be attached to the teats of the dairy animal; a milking robot arranged for connecting the teat cups to the teats, a control system for controlling the milking system, in particular the robot arm, wherein the teat cups are each provided on the robot arm and are releasably connected to the robot arm via a tensionable release means, such as a cord. This allows for better control of the pulling back of the teat cup onto the robotic arm, preventing it from falling onto the floor and getting dirty.

Description

Milking system for dairy animals

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a milk animal milking system, it is used for carrying out full-automatic milking to milk animal.

Background

Milking robots are known which remove a teat cup from a holder for the teat cup and bring the teat cup to the teat for individual connection.

Although such a milking system may work well in some situations, it has the disadvantage that dirt is allowed to enter the milking system in other situations.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The object of the present invention is to prevent the above-mentioned disadvantages.

To this end, the utility model provides a milk animal milking system, it is used for carrying out full-automatic milking to milk animal, milk animal milking system includes: a milking place accessible to the dairy animal, a plurality of teat cups to be connected to the teats of the dairy animal, a milking robot arranged for connecting the teat cups to the teats, a control system for controlling the milking system, the control system controlling the robot arm, characterized in that the teat cups are each provided on the robot arm and are releasably connected to the robot arm via a tensionable release means, such as a cord. This provides the advantage that the teat cup, when falling off the cow's teat, only needs to be pulled back to the robot arm by the strain relief device and does not fall to the floor, at least unlikely. This is particularly advantageous when the teat cup is accidentally dropped from the teat, for example when it is kicked off by a dairy animal or dropped due to an incorrect attachment. In this case, tightening the milk line or the like may result in the teat cup being pulled back too slowly, with the risk of falling onto the floor, which is often very dirty due to faeces, dust, etc. Also, since in such an unexpected situation a milking vacuum is still present in the teat cup, the risk of sucking the dirt into the milk line is very high.

Here, it should be noted that the releasing means is different from the milk line and the vacuum line. Firstly, it is undesirable to exert additional forces, in particular on the milk lines, since the milk conveyed by these milk lines should not be affected by the additional forces or movements. Secondly, these lines are much longer than necessary to connect the teat cup to the robot arm, since they are connected to the milk jug and the vacuum pump, respectively. Therefore, pulling on any of these lines to pull back the teat cup would be a more complicated operation. By providing a separate release means, such as a cord, an optimal arrangement may be provided. For example, the rope may be much thinner and lighter than a milk or vacuum line, and also easily replaced when worn.

In an embodiment, the robot arm is movably connected to a milking site and comprises at least two, preferably three, hingedly connected parts, wherein the teat cups are carried by a distal part of the parts, and an actuator for hinging the parts relative to each other. Here, "far side" means "farthest from the connection of the robot arm to the milking site". The robot arm is thus sufficiently movable to provide a good working space under the dairy animal. Preferably, the milking place is a milking parlour, such as indoors or on a turntable, comprising one or more beams, wherein the robot arm is displaceable along the beams of the milking parlour. This allows the robotic arm to swing in a vertical manner under the dairy animal, thereby reducing the chance of interference with the animal's legs.

Preferably, the robot arm is controllable such that it remains below the milking animal during milking. This allows the release means to be much shorter than when the robot is removed from under the dairy animal.

Preferably, the robotic arm is arranged to follow a displacement of the dairy animal, in particular when the displacement becomes larger than a threshold distance. The dairy animal has sufficient freedom of movement since the teat cup is freely suspended on the teat. However, if the displacement becomes too large, the release means and/or the milk line and/or the vacuum line will be pulled too tight with respect to the robot arm, so that there is a risk of pulling the teat cup off the teat. This can be prevented when the robot arm moves together with the dairy animal, i.e. in the displacement direction of the animal. In particular, if the displacement is greater than a threshold value, the robotic arm is arranged to move with any such displacement. This prevents unnecessary displacement, since the freedom of movement to the animal can be exploited based on the position of the breast/nipple and the free length of the release means (and milk line/vacuum line). The threshold value may be, for example, 15cm and may also depend on the dairy animal. For example, a very low breast or a very high breast may limit the freedom of movement compared to an average height breast.

In an embodiment, each teat cup is releasably held on a teat cup holder, which holder is rotatable with the aid of at least a first actuator between a position upright relative to the robotic arm and a position inclined relative to the robotic arm. Accordingly, when the teatcup is arranged in an inclined position on the teatcup holder, the teatcup is also similarly inclined and thereby protected against dirt and the like falling into the teatcup. When the teat cup holder, and thus also the teat cup thereon, is in an upright position, the teat cup is ready for connection to a teat. A suitable actuator for tilting the teat cup holder between these two positions is provided on the milking system and may comprise a first tensionable cord for tilting the holder from the first position to the second position and a second tensionable cord for tilting the teat cup holder from the second position to the first position. In each case, the other rope is of course not (or at least to a much lesser extent) tensioned.

Drawings

The invention will now be explained with reference to the drawings showing exemplary embodiments, in which:

figure 1 shows a perspective view of a milking system according to the invention;

figure 2 shows a detail of the milking system according to figure 1;

figure 3 is a perspective view of a detail of the milking system of figure 1;

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a milking system 1 according to the invention. The milking system 1 comprises a milking box 2 having a top beam 20 along which a carrier 21 is movable and which in turn carries a robot arm having a top portion 3-1, a middle portion 3-2 and a distal portion 3-3 carrying four teatcups 4, and a cabinet 5 having a control system not separately indicated.

The milking system 1 is a single-tank milking robot having a milking tank 2 to which milking animals, in particular cows, may visit. When a cow is in the milking box 2, the robot arm with the parts 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 brings the teat cups 4 from outside the milking box 2 to inside the milking box and below the cow to connect the teat cups 4 to the teats of the cow. It can be seen that the teatcup is in an inclined position before the connection of the teatcup 4 to prevent dirt from falling into the teatcup 4.

The robot arm has parts 3-1, 3-2 and 3-3, which are hingedly connected to each other and are movable by means of actuators. The robot arm is carried in its entirety on a carrier 21 which is displaceable along the top beam 20 of the milking parlour 2. In this way, the distal part 3-3 of the robot arm can always swing under the cow, from the vertical direction as seen in the longitudinal direction of the animal, which helps to prevent interference with the front and rear legs of the animal. In addition, the articulated connection between the parts 3-1 and 3-2, and 3-2 and 3-3 can thus be stronger, since only one degree of freedom of articulation is required, compared to, for example, ball and socket joints which also allow rotary-type movements.

Fig. 2 shows a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of a detail of the milking system according to fig. 1. The distal part 3-3 of the robot arm with two teatcups 4 is shown. The teat detection system 6 emits detection radiation 7. The milk line 8 and the pulsation line 9 are connected to the teat cup 4 and the teat cup holder is indicated 10 with a first actuator 11 and a second actuator 12. The release cable is indicated at 13.

The distal part 3-3 of the robot arm swings under the cow during milking by applying a milking vacuum via the milk line 8 (which also carries away the expressed milk) and also applying a pulsating vacuum via the pulsating line 9 to the pulsating space of the teat cup. When ready for connection to a teat, the teatcups 4 (two of which are shown here) are turned from an inclined position (see the position of the teatcups 4 in fig. 1) to an upright position. Thereby, the teat cup holder 10 carrying the teat cup 4 is rotated from the inclined position to the upright position shown in fig. 2 with the help of a first actuator 11, e.g. a tensionable cord. Similarly, when it is desired to put the teatcup 4 in a rest position, i.e. a tilted position, the teatcup holder 10 is turned to the tilted position with the help of the second actuator 12, which may also be a tensionable cord. It is noted that both the first and the second actuator may also be replaced by a double acting cylinder, an electromagnetic actuator or the like, as long as they can rotate the teat cup holder 10 between the tilted position and the upright position.

The release cord 13 is also shown, but only a small section thereof. The cord 13 is used to connect the teat cup 14 to the robot arm, in particular the distal part 3-3 thereof. When the teatcup 4 is in its rest position, i.e. the inclined position, the cord 13 is tensioned and the teatcup 4 is thus fixed to the robot arm 3-3. When the teatcup 4 is ready to be connected to the teat, the cord 13 is released so that the teatcup 4 may be lifted and removed from the robot arm portion 3-3. The cord 13 may then be unwound or otherwise lengthened with respect to the robot arm 3-3, so that the teat cup 4 has a large freedom of movement with respect to the robot arm 3-3, but is still connected thereto. When the teat cup 4 needs to be retracted to its rest position, e.g. after completion of milking, but also when it is dropped or kicked off, the cord 13 is tensioned to pull the teat cup back onto the robot arm 3-3.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a detail of the milking system of fig. 1. Here, the teat cup 4 is in its rest position, i.e. inclined position. In this position the teat cup is protected from dirt entering from above and behind, i.e. from the side facing away from the robot arm portion 3-3. The teat cup holder 10 is also visible.

The distal portion of the robotic arm carries four teat cups. The first teat cup is connected to the teat with its corresponding cord loosened to allow the first teat cup freedom of movement. Its corresponding teat cup holder is upright and ready to receive a teat cup when finished. The second teat cup is in an upright position with its corresponding cord tensioned, whereby the second teat cup sits firmly on its teat cup holder. Based on the images acquired by the teat detection system, the robotic arm portion may now be moved upwards to connect the second teat cup to another teat.

The free length of the cord is relatively short when the first and second teatcups are connected to the teat. This allows the teat cup to be "grabbed" when it is dropped from the teat, before dropping onto the floor below the robot arm. This advantage is particularly pronounced because the robot arm portion stays under the teat cup during milking. In case the robot arm is to be removed from under the teat cup and/or if the teat cup is to be connected to the milking system by its milk or pulsation line, the chance that the teat cup falls onto the floor will be much larger than in the milking system of the invention.

Claims (11)

1. A dairy animal milking system for fully automatically milking a dairy animal, the dairy animal milking system comprising:

a milking site accessible to said dairy animal,

a plurality of teat cups to be attached to the teats of the dairy animal,

a milking robot arranged for connecting the teat cup to the teat,

a control system for controlling the milking system, the control system controlling the robot arm,

characterised in that the teatcups are each arranged on the robot arm and are releasably connected to the robot arm via a tensionable release device.

2. The milking system for livestock animals according to claim 1, wherein said releasing means is a cord.

3. The milking animal system according to claim 1, wherein the robot arm is movably connected to the milking site and comprises at least two hingedly interconnected parts, and an actuator for hinging the hingedly interconnected parts relative to each other, wherein the teat cup is carried by a distal part of the hingedly interconnected parts.

4. The milking animal system according to claim 1, wherein the robot arm is movably connected to the milking site and comprises three hingedly interconnected parts, the cups being carried by distal portions of the hingedly interconnected parts, and an actuator for hinging the hingedly interconnected parts relative to each other.

5. A dairy animal milking system according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the milking place is a milking parlour.

6. The milking system for livestock animals according to claim 5, wherein said milking parlour is indoors or on a turntable.

7. The milking animal system according to claim 5, wherein the milking stall comprises one or more beams, wherein the robot arm is displaceable along the beams of the milking stall.

8. A dairy animal milking system according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the robot arm is controllable such that it remains under the dairy animal during milking.

9. A dairy animal milking system according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the robotic arm is arranged to follow a displacement of the dairy animal.

10. A dairy animal milking system according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the robotic arm is arranged to follow the displacement of the dairy animal when the displacement of the dairy animal is larger than a threshold distance.

11. A dairy animal milking system according to any of claims 1-4, wherein each teat cup is releasably held on a teat cup holder, the teat cup holder being rotatable with the aid of at least a first actuator between an upright position relative to the robotic arm and a tilted position relative to the robotic arm.

Images