Animal husbandry – Milkers – Milking station arrangements; e.g. – parlors
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-19
2001-04-17
Jordan, Charles T. (Department: 3644)
Animal husbandry
Milkers
Milking station arrangements; e.g., parlors
C119S520000, C119S756000, C119S757000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216633
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to milking parlor systems and, more specifically, to milking parlor systems having brisket rails that are adapted to maintain dairy cows in a herringbone pattern within a milking area during milking.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Systems and methods for milking cows comprise a milking machine system and a milking parlor system. The milking machine system milks the cows and conveys the milk to a storage tank for further processing, packaging, and the like. The present invention does not relate to milking machine systems and may be used with any conventional milking machine system of appropriate size and capacity.
A primary function of the milking parlor system is physically to arrange and restrain the cows within a milking area during the milking process. The present invention is of particular advantage when applied to milking parlors that are designed to arrange cows in what is referred to as a “herringbone” arrangement during milking. When in a herringbone arrangement, cows are arranged at a slight angle within the milking area such that the head of a middle cow is slightly in front of the head of the cow to one side and slightly behind the head of the cow to the other side.
Secondary functions of the milking parlor system are to allow the cows to be led into and released from the milking area prior to and after milking in a quick and orderly manner.
Beyond these basic functions, a milking parlor system must operate reliably several times a day, seven days a week, for many years. Such a system must also be easy to clean and withstand the effects of repeated washings. Because cows are large and heavy, the milking parlor system must be sufficiently rigid and durable to withstand the force of the cows thereon. And like all products that are sold in a competitive environment, the costs of producing milking parlor systems must be kept as low as possible.
The need thus exists for improved milking parlors that effectively maintain cows in a herringbone arrangement, that may be used in a system that facilitates ingress and egress of cows, that are rigid, durable, and reliable, that are easy to clean, and that may be manufactured efficiently and inexpensively.
PRIOR ART
The Assignee of the present invention has long manufactured a herringbone-style milking parlor system having a structural system, a brisket rail, and a rump rail. The structural system maintains the rump rail at a fixed location and allows the brisket rail to be moved up and down as well as towards and away from the rump rail.
The movement of the brisket rail relative to the rump rail allows the milking parlor system to be placed in one of three configurations. In a first configuration, the brisket rail is lowered and retracted away from the rump rail. Cows are introduced into the milking area, usually in a serial arrangement, when the system is in this first configuration. In a second configuration, the brisket rail is lowered and extended towards the rump rail. Cows are milked in this second configuration. In a third configuration, the brisket rail is retracted and raised. In this third configuration, a number of cows are allowed to leave the milking area at the same time.
The brisket rail employed by the Assignee's prior art milking parlor system is an assembly of a plurality of horizontal metal tubes that are bent into a zigzag shape and welded together with vertical support bars. The zigzag shape allows the brisket rail to extend partly around the cow's brisket in a manner that holds the cow against the rump rail and against the cow on one side. The cows are thus securely maintained in the herringbone configuration during milking. This brisket bar will be referred to as a tube-style brisket bar because of the horizontal metal tubes that are bent to form the zigzag shape described above.
The drawbacks of the tube-style brisket bar include relatively high manufacturing costs and the fact that its relatively complex shapes somewhat complicates the process of cleaning the brisket bar.
The Applicant is also aware of U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,608 to Reisgies et al. This patent discloses a milking parlor system having a large, hollow brisket bar that is generally triangular in cross-section. This brisket bar is arranged such that it defines a generally vertical back wall, a downwardly slanted upper front wall, and an upwardly slanted lower front wall. The front walls are formed from a first rectangular piece of sheet metal that extends the length of the brisket rail and is cold formed to form two legs of the triangular cross-section of the brisket rail. The rear wall is formed by a second rectangular piece of sheet metal that extends the length of the brisket rail and which is welded to the first piece of sheet metal.
Importantly, the brisket bar described in the Reisgies et al. patent does not have a zigzag shape and thus does not function as well as the Assignee's tube-style brisket bar at maintaining cows in a proper herringbone arrangement.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
From the foregoing, it should be apparent that a primary object of the present invention is to provide improved milking parlor systems and methods.
Another more specific object of the present invention is to provide brisket rails for milking parlor system having a favorable mix of the following characteristics:
optimized for maintaining cows in a herringbone configuration;
rigid and sturdy for reliable, long-term use;
can be cleaned easily and thoroughly; and
can be manufactured easily and inexpensively.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a milking parlor system having a brisket bar formed of a plurality of discrete segments joined together at angles in a repeated pattern. The pattern formed by the discrete segments yields a brisket bar that defines brisket areas that receive the fronts of the cows as they are being milked and maintain the cows in a herringbone configuration.
Each discrete segment is formed by a single flat sheet of material, preferably stainless steel, that is bent into a hollow body and welded along a back seam. The ends of adjacent segments are then welded to each other to form the brisket rail. The brisket rail is thus an elongate, hollow body formed of welded together discrete segments.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the segments are of two types that will be referred to as long segments and short segments. As their names suggest, the long segments have a length dimension that is longer than a similar length dimension of the short segments. The ends of the long and short segments are formed at complimentary angles such that, overall, the brisket rail extends along a straight line, although each individual segment extends at an angle to this straight line. The exact angles at which the ends of the segments are formed are not critical so long as these angles are complimentary as just described.
A brisket rail as just described is well-suited to maintaining cows in the required herringbone pattern, can be manufactured simply and relatively inexpensively, is rigid, durable, and reliable, and can be cleaned quickly and easily.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3885528 (1975-05-01), Vandenberg
patent: 4194467 (1980-03-01), Nielsen et al.
patent: 4419961 (1983-12-01), Vandenberg et al.
patent: 4951608 (1990-08-01), Reisgies et al.
patent: 5259334 (1993-11-01), Peacock
patent: 5259335 (1993-11-01), Moreau
patent: 5638768 (1997-06-01), Moreau
patent: 5803015 (1998-09-01), Rhodes et al.
patent: 6026766 (2000-02-01), Albers, Jr.
Gallagher Jeffrey C.
Pawlowicz Scott
Abbott Yvonne R.
Blue Diamond Manufacturing Co.
Hughes & Schacht, PLLC
Jordan Charles T.
Schacht Michael R.
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