WO2011092343A1 - A confinement device for a four-legged animal - Google Patents

A confinement device for a four-legged animal Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2011092343A1
WO2011092343A1 PCT/EP2011/051376 EP2011051376W WO2011092343A1 WO 2011092343 A1 WO2011092343 A1 WO 2011092343A1 EP 2011051376 W EP2011051376 W EP 2011051376W WO 2011092343 A1 WO2011092343 A1 WO 2011092343A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
floor
confinement device
animal
roller
milking
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/EP2011/051376
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
William Taylor
Original Assignee
William Taylor
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by William Taylor filed Critical William Taylor
Publication of WO2011092343A1 publication Critical patent/WO2011092343A1/en

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
    • A01K1/00—Housing animals; Equipment therefor
    • A01K1/06—Devices for fastening animals, e.g. halters, toggles, neck-bars or chain fastenings
    • A01K1/0613—Devices for immobilisation or restraint of animals, e.g. chutes
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
    • A01K1/00—Housing animals; Equipment therefor
    • A01K1/12—Milking stations
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A01—AGRICULTURE; FORESTRY; ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; HUNTING; TRAPPING; FISHING
    • A01K—ANIMAL HUSBANDRY; AVICULTURE; APICULTURE; PISCICULTURE; FISHING; REARING OR BREEDING ANIMALS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; NEW BREEDS OF ANIMALS
    • A01K15/00—Devices for taming animals, e.g. nose-rings or hobbles; Devices for overturning animals in general; Training or exercising equipment; Covering boxes
    • A01K15/02—Training or exercising equipment, e.g. mazes or labyrinths for animals ; Electric shock devices ; Toys specially adapted for animals

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a confinement device for a four-legged animal and in particular to a confinement device in the form of a milking stall of a milking parlour.
  • Automated or robot controlled milking parlours have been in use for several years in various different forms.
  • these prior art arrangements have a rotary platform whose floor area is divided into a plurality of circumferentially spaced stalls by means of barriers for accommodating individual cows.
  • a drive means is typically provided for rotating the platform, the drive means engaging with the platform through driven wheels bearing against the side or underside of the platform floor near its periphery. In many cases the wheels also serve to support the platform.
  • the platform may "float" in a bowl shaped depression filled with a liquid, such as water.
  • the rotary platform is rotated by the drive means at a constant speed such that one full rotation of the platform provides sufficient time for a cow to enter a stall of the platform at an entry location, for a milking operation to be carried out as the platform rotates and for the cow to leave the stall at an exit location adjacent the entry location.
  • a robot arm may be used to fit and remove a milking apparatus, known as a cluster, to and from the teats of each cow's udder at appropriate locations during rotation of the platform, thus the arrangement can operate automatically without requiring manual intervention.
  • a problem with such known arrangements is that the cow may not voluntarily exit the rotating platform when its respective milking stall is at the exit position, even though an exit barrier of the stall may be opened at such position. This is a particular problem where the cow has to exit the stall backwards.
  • the cow may not always be correctly positioned in the stall to allow sufficient space for the robot arm to correctly fit and remove the cluster from the cow's teats, in particular in relation to the spacing of the cow's rear legs. It is known to provide an inverted V-shaped ridge on a floor portion of each stall to extend down the middle of the floor to be located between the rear legs of the cow to keep the cow's legs apart. However, the height of such V-shaped ridge may prevent sufficient access to the cow's udder, particularly with smaller animals, especially where a robot arm is used to fit and remove the cluster from the teats of the cow's udder.
  • a confinement device for a four-legged animal comprising a frame to receive the animal and a floor to support the animal, at least a portion of the floor being moveable between a substantially horizontal orientation and an inclined orientation, wherein said moveable floor portion is inclined downwardly towards an exit end of the confinement device to urge said animal out of the confinement device.
  • Said moveable portion of the floor may be pivotally mounted at one end thereof such the said moveable portion can be tilted or tipped between its substantially horizontal orientation and its inclined orientation.
  • said moveable portion of the floor may be hinged at a first end thereof, to pivot about an axis extending transverse to the animal received in the confinement device, lifting means being provided for elevating a second end of said moveable portion of the floor, opposite said first end, to move said moveable portion to its inclined orientation.
  • said exit end comprises a forward end of the confinement device with respect to the normal orientation of the animal received in the confinement device, said moveable portion of the floor being adapted to support at least the rear legs of the animal and said first end comprising a forward end of said movable portion of the floor and second end comprising a rear end thereof whereby the animal is urged out of the confinement device in a forwards direction when the moveable portion of the floor is moved to its inclined orientation.
  • the exit end comprises a rear end of the confinement device with respect to the normal orientation of the animal of the animal received in the confinement device, said moveable portion of the floor being adapted to support at least the front legs of the animal and said first end comprising a rear end of said moveable portion of the floor and said second end comprising a forward end thereof whereby the animal is urged out of the confinement device in a rearwards direction when the moveable portion of the floor is moved to its inclined orientation.
  • the lifting means may comprise one or more pneumatic or hydraulic rams or any other suitable means for urging the second end of the moveable portion of the floor in an upwards direction.
  • the confinement device may further comprise gate means for selectively closing said exit end of the confinement device.
  • the moveable floor portion and the gate means may be interlinked or interconnected so that the moveable floor portion is moved from its substantially horizontal orientation to its inclined orientation as the gate means is moved from its closed to its open position.
  • said moveable portion of the floor comprises a floor plate arranged to support either the front or the rear legs of the animal when the animal is within the confinement device, depending upon the direction in which the animal is desired to leave the confinement device.
  • At least one roller is provided on the floor of the confinement device extending along a central region of the floor to be located between the rear legs of the animal received in the confinement device, said at least one roller being rotatable about an axis extending longitudinal with respect to the animal received in the confinement device, at least an upper surface of the at least one roller being exposed above the surface of the floor plate, whereby said at least one roller ensures that the animal's rear legs are kept sufficiently spaced apart to provide access to the underside of the animal, for example to a cow's udder.
  • a plurality of rollers may be located side by side and parallel to one another along said central region of the floor to be rotatable about respective axes extending longitudinal with respect to the animal received in the confinement device.
  • Said at least one roller may be provided on the moveable portion of the floor of the confinement device, particularly where said moveable portion of the floor is adapted to support the rear legs of the animal.
  • said moveable portion of the floor of the confinement device may comprise substantially the entire floor of the confinement device.
  • a confinement device for a four-legged animal comprising a floor or deck to receive the animal and including a floor plate for supporting the rear legs of the animal, said floor plate being provided with at least one roller extending along a central region of the floor plate to be rotatable about an axis extending longitudinal with respect to the floor or deck, at least an upper surface of the at least one roller being exposed above the surface of the floor plate, whereby said at least one roller ensures that the cows rear legs are kept sufficiently spaced apart to provide access to the underside of the animal, for example to a cow's udder.
  • said floor plate is provided with a plurality of rollers located side by side and parallel to one another along said central region of the floor plate to be rotatable about respective axes extending longitudinal with respect to the floor or deck.
  • the upper surfaces of said rollers are arranged in a substantially inverted V-shaped formation, with the upper surface of one or more substantially central rollers being higher than the upper surface of the or each roller on either side thereof.
  • Said at least one roller may be free running to roll the animal's foot/hoof to one side of the roller if the animal should stand on the roller.
  • said one or more roller may be driven to rotate in a direction to divert the animal's foot/hoof to a predetermined side of the roller shown the animal stand on the roller.
  • Said one or more rollers may define between 1 ⁇ 4 and 1 ⁇ 2 of the surface area of the floor plate.
  • said confinement device may comprise a milking stall of a milking parlour.
  • a robotic milking parlour comprising at least one milking stall, said milking stall incorporating a robotic arm form applying and removing a cluster from the teats of a cow's udder, said milking stall comprising a confinement device as claimed in any preceding claim.
  • a rotary milking parlour comprising an annular platform having a plurality of milking stalls arranged at circumferentially spaced locations around the annular platform, each milking stall comprising a confinement device as claimed in any preceding claim.
  • one or more robot arms are provided for fitting and removing a milking cluster from the teats or the udder of the respective animal received in each of said plurality of milking stalls.
  • Figure 1 is a side view of the floor staging of an animal confinement device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • Figure 2 is a plan view of the floor plate of floor staging of the animal confinement device of Figure 1.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates a milking stall 10 of a robotic milking parlour in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
  • a plurality of such milking stalls may be mounted side by side, circumferentially spaced around a rotary platform in a rotary milking parlour, or side by side in one or more rows, which may be staggered in a herringbone arrangement.
  • Each milking stall 10 comprises a pair of spaced side guide rails (not shown) located on either side of a deck 12 upon which the cow may stand when in the milking stall.
  • the spacing of the guide rails is such as to prevent the animal from turning in the stall.
  • the guide rails may be covered by plates or flexible or rigid covers to act as blinkers.
  • a feeding trough (not shown) may be provided at a forward end of the stall 10 to allow the cow to feed during milking and a gate or barrier (not shown) may be provided at both a front and a rear end of the stall 10 to selectively retain the cow within the stall during milking.
  • the cow When the cow is in the stall 10, its front legs will be on a forward region of the deck 12, whilst its rear legs will be supported on a moveable floor plate 16, forming part of the floor area of the stall, provided at a rear end of the deck 12.
  • the moveable floor plate 16 is pivotally mounted on the remainder of the deck 12 via a hinge connection 18 provided at a forward end of the floor plate 16.
  • a pair of pneumatic rams 20 are provided under a rear end of the floor plate 16, said rams being extendable from a retracted position, wherein the floor plate lies in a horizontal orientation to define a flat supporting surface forming a continuation of the upper surface of the deck 12, and an extended position, wherein the rear end of the floor plate 16 is raised and the floor plate 16 is tilted to an inclined orientation, sloping downwardly towards a front end of the stall 10, as shown in Figure 1.
  • the cow is left uncomfortable with her posture with her rear hooves resting on the inclined surface of the floor plate 16, ensuring that the cow moves forwards out of the stall.
  • the moveable floor plate may be provided at a forward end of the stall to support the front legs of the animal and may be adapted to tilt backwardly about a hinge provided at a rear end of the plate, said rams being provided under a front end of the plate, such that the front legs of the animal are raised and the animal is urged to move backwards out of the stall.
  • the floor plate 16 is pivotally mounted on a longitudinally extending pivotal bar 22 which spans the length of the floor plate and which lies centrally along the longitudinal axis of the deck 12, as disclosed in European Patent No. EP 1 170 989, incorporated herein by reference.
  • the rocking of the floor plate 16 about such pivot bar 22 causes the animal to sense that any movement of its hind quarters will lead to an unsettling motion of the floor plate 16. This has the effect of dissuading the animal from moving, and in particular kicking its hind legs, particularly when the milking cluster is being fitted to or removed from the teats of the cow's udder.
  • a locking bolt (not shown) may be provided beneath the floor plate, said locking bolt being extendable to hold the floor plate in place and prevent it from rocking. Once the animal is positioned on the deck 12, the locking bolt may be retracted withdrawn, thereby allowing the floor plate 16 to pivot freely and encourage the animal to keep its hindquarters still. Such pivotal movement of the floor plate 16 would not be required where the moveable floor plate is adapted to support the front legs of the animal.
  • a row of elongate rollers 24,26,28,30 are mounted on a central region of the floor, more particularly on the movable floor plate 16, such that the hooves of the rear legs of the cow will be astride floor plate and positioned on either side of said rollers.
  • Such arrangement of rollers provides the same effect as the prior art inverted V-shaped ridge, keeping the cows rear hooves located correctly on either side of the floor plate.
  • the maximum height of the rollers above the upper surface of the support plate 16 is much less than that of the known inverted V-shaped ridge, ensuring sufficient clearance beneath the cow to enable the use of a robot arm to fit and remove a milking cluster from the teats of the cow, particularly in the case of small cows (such as Jersey cows).
  • the rollers 24,26,28,30 may be freely rotatable upon suitable bearings or bushings such that a cows hooves will roll off the rollers to one side of the rollers should the cow place its hoof onto the rollers, thus ensuring that the cow keeps its rear legs sufficiently far apart to provide adequate access to the cow's udder, for example to allow a robot arm to fit a milking cluster onto the cow's teats or to remove the milking cluster therefrom.
  • rollers 24,26,28,30 may be driven, for example just before or during operation of the robot arm in a respective direction, to actively divert the cows rear hooves onto the support plate on either side of the rollers.
  • the centre or central rollers may be of a larger diameter and/or may be mounted at a higher position on the floor plate 16 than the roller or rollers to the sides of said centre or central rollers, such that the upper surfaces of the rollers define a substantially inverted V shaped profile in a direction transverse to the axis of the rollers.
  • the rollers 24,26,28,30 remain lower than the known inverted V shaped ridges used in prior art arrangement to maintain the spacing between a cow's legs.
  • the rollers may cover a width of approximately 25 cm or around one third of the overall width of the floor plate 16. While, in the embodiment shown in Figure 2, four parallel rollers are provided, it is envisaged that more or less rollers may be used.
  • a single, larger roller may be provided.
  • Such large roller may be tapered towards its ends, at least towards a rear end, to ensure sufficient clearance for the robot arm to fit or remove the cluster.
  • said rollers may be provided on the region 12 of the floor intended for supporting the rear legs of the animal. Such region may be adapted to tilt about a central longitudinal axis to prevent the cow from kicking, as described above.
  • the rams 20 are extended to move the floor plate 16 to its inclined orientation, causing the cow to move forwardly out of the stall so that their legs are on level ground.
  • the operation of the rams 20 to raise the floor plate 16 to its inclined orientation may be interlinked with the operation of the gates or barriers used to retain the cow within the stall 10, such that the floor plate 16 is raised once the gates or barriers are opened to allow the cow to leave the stall when required.
  • the floor plate be made of a suitable non-slip material such as chequer plate.
  • the floor plate and decking be made of metal or other resilient material capable of withstanding the weight and force exerted by animals upon it.
  • the floor plate comprises only a portion of the floor or deck of the stall it is envisaged that the floor plate may extend substantially the full length of the floor or deck of the stall.

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  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Environmental Sciences (AREA)
  • Zoology (AREA)
  • Animal Husbandry (AREA)
  • Biodiversity & Conservation Biology (AREA)
  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Physical Education & Sports Medicine (AREA)
  • Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
  • Housing For Livestock And Birds (AREA)

Abstract

A confinement device for a four-legged animal, the device comprising a frame to receive the animal and a floor (12) to support the animal, at least a portion (16) of the floor being moveable between a substantially horizontal orientation and an inclined orientation, wherein said moveable floor portion is inclined downwardly towards an exit end of the confinement device to urge said animal out of the confinement device.

Description

A confinement device for a four-legged animal
This invention relates to a confinement device for a four-legged animal and in particular to a confinement device in the form of a milking stall of a milking parlour.
Automated or robot controlled milking parlours have been in use for several years in various different forms. Generally these prior art arrangements have a rotary platform whose floor area is divided into a plurality of circumferentially spaced stalls by means of barriers for accommodating individual cows. A drive means is typically provided for rotating the platform, the drive means engaging with the platform through driven wheels bearing against the side or underside of the platform floor near its periphery. In many cases the wheels also serve to support the platform. Alternatively the platform may "float" in a bowl shaped depression filled with a liquid, such as water. Typically the rotary platform is rotated by the drive means at a constant speed such that one full rotation of the platform provides sufficient time for a cow to enter a stall of the platform at an entry location, for a milking operation to be carried out as the platform rotates and for the cow to leave the stall at an exit location adjacent the entry location. A robot arm may be used to fit and remove a milking apparatus, known as a cluster, to and from the teats of each cow's udder at appropriate locations during rotation of the platform, thus the arrangement can operate automatically without requiring manual intervention.
A problem with such known arrangements is that the cow may not voluntarily exit the rotating platform when its respective milking stall is at the exit position, even though an exit barrier of the stall may be opened at such position. This is a particular problem where the cow has to exit the stall backwards.
Furthermore, the cow may not always be correctly positioned in the stall to allow sufficient space for the robot arm to correctly fit and remove the cluster from the cow's teats, in particular in relation to the spacing of the cow's rear legs. It is known to provide an inverted V-shaped ridge on a floor portion of each stall to extend down the middle of the floor to be located between the rear legs of the cow to keep the cow's legs apart. However, the height of such V-shaped ridge may prevent sufficient access to the cow's udder, particularly with smaller animals, especially where a robot arm is used to fit and remove the cluster from the teats of the cow's udder.
In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention there is provided a confinement device for a four-legged animal, the device comprising a frame to receive the animal and a floor to support the animal, at least a portion of the floor being moveable between a substantially horizontal orientation and an inclined orientation, wherein said moveable floor portion is inclined downwardly towards an exit end of the confinement device to urge said animal out of the confinement device.
Said moveable portion of the floor may be pivotally mounted at one end thereof such the said moveable portion can be tilted or tipped between its substantially horizontal orientation and its inclined orientation. In one embodiment said moveable portion of the floor may be hinged at a first end thereof, to pivot about an axis extending transverse to the animal received in the confinement device, lifting means being provided for elevating a second end of said moveable portion of the floor, opposite said first end, to move said moveable portion to its inclined orientation.
In one embodiment said exit end comprises a forward end of the confinement device with respect to the normal orientation of the animal received in the confinement device, said moveable portion of the floor being adapted to support at least the rear legs of the animal and said first end comprising a forward end of said movable portion of the floor and second end comprising a rear end thereof whereby the animal is urged out of the confinement device in a forwards direction when the moveable portion of the floor is moved to its inclined orientation.. In an alternative embodiment the exit end comprises a rear end of the confinement device with respect to the normal orientation of the animal of the animal received in the confinement device, said moveable portion of the floor being adapted to support at least the front legs of the animal and said first end comprising a rear end of said moveable portion of the floor and said second end comprising a forward end thereof whereby the animal is urged out of the confinement device in a rearwards direction when the moveable portion of the floor is moved to its inclined orientation. The lifting means may comprise one or more pneumatic or hydraulic rams or any other suitable means for urging the second end of the moveable portion of the floor in an upwards direction. The confinement device may further comprise gate means for selectively closing said exit end of the confinement device. The moveable floor portion and the gate means may be interlinked or interconnected so that the moveable floor portion is moved from its substantially horizontal orientation to its inclined orientation as the gate means is moved from its closed to its open position.
In a preferred embodiment said moveable portion of the floor comprises a floor plate arranged to support either the front or the rear legs of the animal when the animal is within the confinement device, depending upon the direction in which the animal is desired to leave the confinement device.
Preferably at least one roller is provided on the floor of the confinement device extending along a central region of the floor to be located between the rear legs of the animal received in the confinement device, said at least one roller being rotatable about an axis extending longitudinal with respect to the animal received in the confinement device, at least an upper surface of the at least one roller being exposed above the surface of the floor plate, whereby said at least one roller ensures that the animal's rear legs are kept sufficiently spaced apart to provide access to the underside of the animal, for example to a cow's udder.
A plurality of rollers may be located side by side and parallel to one another along said central region of the floor to be rotatable about respective axes extending longitudinal with respect to the animal received in the confinement device.
Said at least one roller may be provided on the moveable portion of the floor of the confinement device, particularly where said moveable portion of the floor is adapted to support the rear legs of the animal.
It is envisaged that said moveable portion of the floor of the confinement device may comprise substantially the entire floor of the confinement device. In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a confinement device for a four-legged animal, the device comprising a floor or deck to receive the animal and including a floor plate for supporting the rear legs of the animal, said floor plate being provided with at least one roller extending along a central region of the floor plate to be rotatable about an axis extending longitudinal with respect to the floor or deck, at least an upper surface of the at least one roller being exposed above the surface of the floor plate, whereby said at least one roller ensures that the cows rear legs are kept sufficiently spaced apart to provide access to the underside of the animal, for example to a cow's udder. Preferably said floor plate is provided with a plurality of rollers located side by side and parallel to one another along said central region of the floor plate to be rotatable about respective axes extending longitudinal with respect to the floor or deck.
In a preferred embodiment the upper surfaces of said rollers are arranged in a substantially inverted V-shaped formation, with the upper surface of one or more substantially central rollers being higher than the upper surface of the or each roller on either side thereof. Said at least one roller may be free running to roll the animal's foot/hoof to one side of the roller if the animal should stand on the roller. Alternatively said one or more roller may be driven to rotate in a direction to divert the animal's foot/hoof to a predetermined side of the roller shown the animal stand on the roller.
Said one or more rollers may define between ¼ and ½ of the surface area of the floor plate.
In one embodiment said confinement device may comprise a milking stall of a milking parlour.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a robotic milking parlour comprising at least one milking stall, said milking stall incorporating a robotic arm form applying and removing a cluster from the teats of a cow's udder, said milking stall comprising a confinement device as claimed in any preceding claim.
In a further aspect of the invention there is provided a rotary milking parlour comprising an annular platform having a plurality of milking stalls arranged at circumferentially spaced locations around the annular platform, each milking stall comprising a confinement device as claimed in any preceding claim. Preferably one or more robot arms are provided for fitting and removing a milking cluster from the teats or the udder of the respective animal received in each of said plurality of milking stalls. An embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a side view of the floor staging of an animal confinement device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and
Figure 2 is a plan view of the floor plate of floor staging of the animal confinement device of Figure 1.
Figure 1 illustrates a milking stall 10 of a robotic milking parlour in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. A plurality of such milking stalls may be mounted side by side, circumferentially spaced around a rotary platform in a rotary milking parlour, or side by side in one or more rows, which may be staggered in a herringbone arrangement.
Each milking stall 10 comprises a pair of spaced side guide rails (not shown) located on either side of a deck 12 upon which the cow may stand when in the milking stall. The spacing of the guide rails is such as to prevent the animal from turning in the stall. The guide rails may be covered by plates or flexible or rigid covers to act as blinkers. A feeding trough (not shown) may be provided at a forward end of the stall 10 to allow the cow to feed during milking and a gate or barrier (not shown) may be provided at both a front and a rear end of the stall 10 to selectively retain the cow within the stall during milking.
In use, a cow enters the stall 10 in direction A, shown in Figure 1. Further references to "front", "rear", "forward" and "backwards" will relate to the normal orientation of the animal when received within the stall 10.
When the cow is in the stall 10, its front legs will be on a forward region of the deck 12, whilst its rear legs will be supported on a moveable floor plate 16, forming part of the floor area of the stall, provided at a rear end of the deck 12. The moveable floor plate 16 is pivotally mounted on the remainder of the deck 12 via a hinge connection 18 provided at a forward end of the floor plate 16. A pair of pneumatic rams 20 are provided under a rear end of the floor plate 16, said rams being extendable from a retracted position, wherein the floor plate lies in a horizontal orientation to define a flat supporting surface forming a continuation of the upper surface of the deck 12, and an extended position, wherein the rear end of the floor plate 16 is raised and the floor plate 16 is tilted to an inclined orientation, sloping downwardly towards a front end of the stall 10, as shown in Figure 1. In such inclined orientation, the cow is left uncomfortable with her posture with her rear hooves resting on the inclined surface of the floor plate 16, ensuring that the cow moves forwards out of the stall.
Where it is desired to urge the cow to move out of the stall in a backwards direction, the moveable floor plate may be provided at a forward end of the stall to support the front legs of the animal and may be adapted to tilt backwardly about a hinge provided at a rear end of the plate, said rams being provided under a front end of the plate, such that the front legs of the animal are raised and the animal is urged to move backwards out of the stall.
As shown in Figure 2, the floor plate 16 is pivotally mounted on a longitudinally extending pivotal bar 22 which spans the length of the floor plate and which lies centrally along the longitudinal axis of the deck 12, as disclosed in European Patent No. EP 1 170 989, incorporated herein by reference. The rocking of the floor plate 16 about such pivot bar 22 causes the animal to sense that any movement of its hind quarters will lead to an unsettling motion of the floor plate 16. This has the effect of dissuading the animal from moving, and in particular kicking its hind legs, particularly when the milking cluster is being fitted to or removed from the teats of the cow's udder. A locking bolt (not shown) may be provided beneath the floor plate, said locking bolt being extendable to hold the floor plate in place and prevent it from rocking. Once the animal is positioned on the deck 12, the locking bolt may be retracted withdrawn, thereby allowing the floor plate 16 to pivot freely and encourage the animal to keep its hindquarters still. Such pivotal movement of the floor plate 16 would not be required where the moveable floor plate is adapted to support the front legs of the animal.
In order to maintain the correct spacing between the cow's rear legs to provide adequate access to the cow's udder, for milking and for veterinary attention, and in particular to enable use of a robot arm to fit and remove a milking cluster, a row of elongate rollers 24,26,28,30 are mounted on a central region of the floor, more particularly on the movable floor plate 16, such that the hooves of the rear legs of the cow will be astride floor plate and positioned on either side of said rollers. Such arrangement of rollers provides the same effect as the prior art inverted V-shaped ridge, keeping the cows rear hooves located correctly on either side of the floor plate. However, the maximum height of the rollers above the upper surface of the support plate 16 is much less than that of the known inverted V-shaped ridge, ensuring sufficient clearance beneath the cow to enable the use of a robot arm to fit and remove a milking cluster from the teats of the cow, particularly in the case of small cows (such as Jersey cows).
The rollers 24,26,28,30 may be freely rotatable upon suitable bearings or bushings such that a cows hooves will roll off the rollers to one side of the rollers should the cow place its hoof onto the rollers, thus ensuring that the cow keeps its rear legs sufficiently far apart to provide adequate access to the cow's udder, for example to allow a robot arm to fit a milking cluster onto the cow's teats or to remove the milking cluster therefrom.
Alternatively the rollers 24,26,28,30 may be driven, for example just before or during operation of the robot arm in a respective direction, to actively divert the cows rear hooves onto the support plate on either side of the rollers.
Where multiple rollers are provided, as shown in Figure 3, the centre or central rollers may be of a larger diameter and/or may be mounted at a higher position on the floor plate 16 than the roller or rollers to the sides of said centre or central rollers, such that the upper surfaces of the rollers define a substantially inverted V shaped profile in a direction transverse to the axis of the rollers. However, the rollers 24,26,28,30 remain lower than the known inverted V shaped ridges used in prior art arrangement to maintain the spacing between a cow's legs. The rollers may cover a width of approximately 25 cm or around one third of the overall width of the floor plate 16. While, in the embodiment shown in Figure 2, four parallel rollers are provided, it is envisaged that more or less rollers may be used. A single, larger roller may be provided. Such large roller may be tapered towards its ends, at least towards a rear end, to ensure sufficient clearance for the robot arm to fit or remove the cluster. Where the moveable floor plate 16 is adapted to support the front legs of the animal to urge the cow to move out of the stall in a backwards direction, said rollers may be provided on the region 12 of the floor intended for supporting the rear legs of the animal. Such region may be adapted to tilt about a central longitudinal axis to prevent the cow from kicking, as described above.
In use, when it is desired to urge a cow to leave the stall, for example when the stall is at an exit position of a rotary milking parlour, the rams 20 are extended to move the floor plate 16 to its inclined orientation, causing the cow to move forwardly out of the stall so that their legs are on level ground.
The operation of the rams 20 to raise the floor plate 16 to its inclined orientation may be interlinked with the operation of the gates or barriers used to retain the cow within the stall 10, such that the floor plate 16 is raised once the gates or barriers are opened to allow the cow to leave the stall when required.
It is desirable to incorporate drainage holes in the floor plate and/or decking through which waste products can pass thereby preventing a build-up of urine, manure and any other waste products.
It is also desirable that the floor plate be made of a suitable non-slip material such as chequer plate.
It is also desirable that the floor plate and decking be made of metal or other resilient material capable of withstanding the weight and force exerted by animals upon it.
Whilst in the embodiment described the floor plate comprises only a portion of the floor or deck of the stall it is envisaged that the floor plate may extend substantially the full length of the floor or deck of the stall.
While particular reference has been made to robotic milking parlours the novel aspects of the invention are equally applicable to manually operated milking parlours, for example where the milking cluster is fixed to the teats manually. Whilst the present invention has been described in relation to a stall of a milking parlour for cows, the novel aspects of the present invention are equally applicable to the milking of other animals, such as goats, buffalo and camels, any to other animal confinement device wherein it is desired to access the rear of the animal for treatment or other procedures and/or where it is desired to encourage an animal to exit such confinement device. For example, such tilting floor principle may be utilised to urge an animal to leave a transport device, such as a horse box or trailer. While the invention is primarily described in relation to its use on farms, the invention may also find application in other situations where it is desirable to control animals for example in veterinarian practices or zoos.
The invention is not limited to the embodiment(s) described herein but can be amended or modified without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

Claims
1. A confinement device for a four-legged animal, the device comprising a frame to receive the animal and a floor to support the animal, at least a portion of the floor being moveable between a substantially horizontal orientation and an inclined orientation, wherein said moveable floor portion is inclined downwardly towards an exit end of the confinement device to urge said animal out of the confinement device.
2. A confinement device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said moveable portion of the floor is pivotally mounted at one end thereof such the said moveable portion can be tilted or tipped between its substantially horizontal orientation and its inclined orientation.
3. A confinement device as claimed in claim 2, wherein said moveable portion of the floor is hinged at a first end thereof, to pivot about an axis extending transverse to the animal received in the confinement device, lifting means being provided for elevating a second end of said moveable portion of the floor, opposite said first end, to move said moveable portion to its inclined orientation.
4. A confinement device as claimed in 3, wherein said exit end comprises a forward end of the confinement device with respect to the normal orientation of the animal received in the confinement device, said moveable portion of the floor being adapted to support at least the rear legs of the animal and said first end comprising a forward end of said moveable portion of the floor and second end comprising a rear end thereof.
5. A confinement device as claimed in 3, wherein said exit end comprises a rear end of the confinement device with respect to the normal orientation of the animal received in the confinement device, said moveable portion of the floor being adapted to support at least the front legs of the animal and said first end comprising a rear end of said moveable portion of the floor and second end comprising a forward end thereof.
6. A confinement device as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, wherein said lifting means comprises one or more pneumatic or hydraulic rams.
7. A confinement device as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising gate means for selectively closing said exit end of the confinement device.
8. A confinement device as claimed in claim 7, wherein the moveable floor portion and the gate means are interlinked or interconnected so that the moveable floor portion is moved from its substantially horizontal orientation to its inclined orientation as the gate means is moved from its closed to its open position.
9. A confinement device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein at least one roller is provided on the floor of the confinement device extending along a central region of the floor to be located between the rear legs of the animal received in the confinement device, said at least one roller being rotatable about an axis extending longitudinal with respect to the animal received in the confinement device, at least an upper surface of the at least one roller being exposed above the surface of the floor , whereby said at least one roller ensures that the animal's rear legs are kept sufficiently spaced apart to provide access to the underside of the animal, for example to a cow's udder.
10. A confinement device as claimed in claim 9, wherein a plurality of rollers are provided located side by side and parallel to one another along said central region of the floor to be rotatable about respective axes extending longitudinal with respect to the animal received in the confinement device.
11. A confinement device as claimed in claim 9 or claim 10, wherein said at least one roller is provided on said moveable portion of the floor.
12. A confinement device for a four-legged animal, the device comprising a floor or deck to receive the animal and including a floor plate for supporting the rear legs of the animal, said floor plate being provided with at least one roller extending along a central region of the floor plate to be rotatable about an axis extending longitudinal with respect to the floor or deck, at least an upper surface of the at least one roller being exposed above the surface of the floor plate, whereby said at least one roller ensures that the cows rear legs are kept sufficiently spaced apart to provide access to the underside of the animal, for example to a cow's udder.
13. A confinement device as claimed in claim 12, wherein said floor plate is provided with a plurality of rollers located side by side and parallel to one another along said central region of the floor plate to be rotatable about respective axes extending longitudinal with respect to the floor or deck.
14. A confinement device as claimed in claim 13, wherein the upper surfaces of said rollers are arranged in a substantially inverted V shaped formation, with the upper surface of one or more substantially central rollers being higher than the upper surface of the or each roller on either side thereof.
15. A confinement device as claimed in any of claims 12 to 14, wherein said at least one roller is free running to roll the animal's foot/hoof to one side of the roller if the animal should stand on the roller.
16. A confinement device as claimed in any of claims 12 to 14, wherein said one or more roller is driven to rotate in a direction to divert the animal's foot/hoof to a predetermined side of the roller shown the animal stand on the roller.
17. A confinement device as claimed in any of claims 12 to 16, wherein said one or more rollers define between ¼ and ½ of the surface area of the floor plate.
18. A confinement device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said confinement device comprises a milking stall of a milking parlour.
19. A robotic milking parlour comprising at least one milking stall, said milking stall incorporating a robotic arm form applying and removing a cluster from the teats of a cow's udder, said milking stall comprising a confinement device as claimed in any preceding claim.
20. A rotary milking parlour comprising an annular platform having a plurality of milking stalls arranged at circumferentially spaced locations around the annular platform, each milking stall comprising a confinement device as claimed in any preceding claim.
21. A rotary milking parlour as claimed in claim 20, wherein one or more robot arms are provided for fitting and removing a milking cluster from the teats or the udder of the respective animal received in each of said plurality of milking stalls.
PCT/EP2011/051376 2010-02-01 2011-02-01 A confinement device for a four-legged animal WO2011092343A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GBGB1001597.2A GB201001597D0 (en) 2010-02-01 2010-02-01 Tipping roller floor
GB1001597.2 2010-02-01

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WO2011092343A1 true WO2011092343A1 (en) 2011-08-04

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CN114885843A (en) * 2022-03-21 2022-08-12 青海壹万英尺牧业开发科技有限公司 Be provided with protector's yak milk device of picking milk

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WO2000053002A2 (en) * 1999-03-11 2000-09-14 William Taylor Animal confinement device
WO2001028316A1 (en) * 1999-10-22 2001-04-26 Delaval Holding Ab A method and a device for the evacuation of an animal stall
WO2002019806A1 (en) * 2000-09-06 2002-03-14 Delaval Holding Ab An improved construction for milking of animals
EP1300068A2 (en) * 2001-10-05 2003-04-09 Lely Enterprises AG A device for and a method of performing a treatment on an animal

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US2269012A (en) * 1940-03-18 1942-01-06 Carli John J De Individual stall system for cow milking
WO2000053002A2 (en) * 1999-03-11 2000-09-14 William Taylor Animal confinement device
EP1170989A2 (en) 1999-03-11 2002-01-16 William Taylor Animal confinement device
WO2001028316A1 (en) * 1999-10-22 2001-04-26 Delaval Holding Ab A method and a device for the evacuation of an animal stall
WO2002019806A1 (en) * 2000-09-06 2002-03-14 Delaval Holding Ab An improved construction for milking of animals
EP1300068A2 (en) * 2001-10-05 2003-04-09 Lely Enterprises AG A device for and a method of performing a treatment on an animal

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN114885843A (en) * 2022-03-21 2022-08-12 青海壹万英尺牧业开发科技有限公司 Be provided with protector's yak milk device of picking milk
CN114885843B (en) * 2022-03-21 2023-11-24 青海壹万英尺牧业开发科技有限公司 Yak milk collecting device with protecting device

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