Animal husbandry – Milkers – With signals – indicators – registers – and timers
Patent
1994-04-13
1995-12-12
Swiatek, Robert P.
Animal husbandry
Milkers
With signals, indicators, registers, and timers
119 1414, A01J 500
Patent
active
054740231
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The teats and udder of milk animals, such as cows, goats and sheep, are very vulnerable to injury and disease and to becoming soiled. In hand milking and hand-applied machine milking regimes the operator is able to inspect the teats and udder. In particular the teats are inspected to ensure that they are clean, to avoid dirt in the milk, and free from apparent injury or disease which could contaminate the milk from the animal and, if mixed in a bulk supply, that from a whole herd.
In milking regime with automatic application of the milking apparatus, e.g. GB-A 2226941, operator inspection would increase costs by destroying the "unattended" capacity of such regimes. Accordingly there is a need for an inspection technique to ensure that dirt, infection or injury of a teat is identified before milking or before milk from an individual teat is mixed with a bulk supply. Such inspection techniques would also be of value for milking regimes involving operator intervention.
It is an object of the invention to provide an inspection technique for a generally tubular object, typically but not exclusively a teat of a milk animal. The technique is particularly suitable for an automatic procedure, typically but not exclusively an automatically-applied machine milking regime.
According to the invention there is provided an inspection arrangement for a generally tubular object including an elongate probe, at least one radiation sensor on the inner surface of the probe and means to move relatively the probe around a said object positioned for inspection to scan the surface of the object to provide signal output from the at least one sensor, the output indicating a surface condition of the object.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an inspection arrangement for a teat of a milk animal in which said probe is a teat-surrounding housing and including at least one radiation detection device in the housing to respond to radiation from a teat therein, which radiation is at least one of reflected and emitted by the teat, and to produce an output signal indicative of said response to said radiation together with means to respond to said output signal to provide an indication that a teat inspected in the arrangement is acceptable or otherwise for milking.
Conveniently the housing is hollow.
Conveniently the housing includes a plurality of detection devices and associated radiation emissive devices and the housing is of generally tubular form to receive a teat and to turn to sweep the surface of the teat with the detection devices.
The detection devices, and radiative devices if present, may be arranged spaced along the length of the tube in a straight line parallel to the axis or in a curve around the inside. The tube may be movable lengthwise as well as being turnable so that several sweeps in turn at lengthwise displaced tube positions can be made. In this way a few devices can be used to build up a detailed scan image from the output signals of the several, displaced, sweeps.
The arrangement may include rotary drive means, such as a d.c. motor, for the turning of the tube together with suitable index means for control of the motor. The lengthwise movement of the tube may be by a linear drive means, such as a rack and pinion, or linked to the rotary drive means to provide a lengthwise shift on each complete turn. The lengthwise movement may be provided by movement of a support for the arrangement such as an automatic milking apparatus described in the above-mentioned GB-A 2226941.
The indication of teat condition may be a simple "GO/NO GO" signal or a display on a VDU based on an assembly of information derived from the sweeps of the teat surface. This display may, if the detection device output can yield the information, indicate that specific problems, e.g. injury or soiling, are present.
The arrangement may be positioned for collection by an automatic milking arrangement and application to a teat before an attempt is made to apply a teat cup for milking.
According to another aspect of the invention there
REFERENCES:
patent: 4134015 (1979-01-01), Cunningham
patent: 4386707 (1983-06-01), Stube
patent: 4596953 (1986-06-01), Nagasaka et al.
patent: 4726322 (1988-02-01), Torsius
World Patent Index Latest, Week 8544, AN 85-271934.
Patent Abstracts of Japan, vol. 12, No. 51, (P-667) 16 Feb. 1988.
Pig International, vol. 18, No. 2, Feb. 1988, pp. 14-16, `Slaughterers help with AI costs`.
Douglas Andrew J.
Khodabandehloo Koorosh
Mottram Toby T. F.
British Technology Group Ltd.
Swiatek Robert P.
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