Animal husbandry – Antivermin treating or cleaning – Process
Patent
1995-05-19
1997-10-07
Swiatek, Robert P.
Animal husbandry
Antivermin treating or cleaning
Process
119670, A01J 704
Patent
active
056736509
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to the cleaning of the teats of a milking animal.
When a milking animal presents for milking it is important to ensure that the teat is free of any soiling or condition that could contaminate milk drawn from the teat by a milking apparatus. This need applies to both manual and automatic application of milking apparatus. Various cleaning techniques have been proposed and applied such as water sprays and brushes but a reliable, gentle technique is still required to provide effective, quick cleaning without risk of damage to the teat.
It is an object of the invention to provide an effective teat cleaning technique which is consistent with animal welfare concerns.
According to the invention there is provided a method of cleaning the teats of a milking animal including providing a cleaning arrangement having a teat receiving aperture, causing or permitting the arrangement to receive a teat and engage the teat locally and causing or permitting relative movement of the teat and cleaning arrangement, releasing from the teat surface unwanted material.
The method may include causing or permitting the local engagement as engagement at different areas at different times. A cleaning arrangement can be provided with one or more cleaning elements and an element may be provided with one or more cleaning members.
According to the invention there is provided a teat cleaning apparatus including a teat engaging arrangement having a teat receiving aperture and means within the aperture to locally engage a received teat, means to cause relative movement of the engagement means and an engaged teat therein, said local engagement means being effective in operation of the arrangement to act on material on the teat to release it therefrom.
The teat cleaning apparatus may include at least one engaging means of an element with a plurality of resilient elongate members extending at least partly across the aperture, the members having a lengthwise direction of the members generally tangential to an inner part of the aperture leaving said inner part clear. The members may be inflatable or stiffenable by fluid pressure or be inherently stiff to exert shearing along the surface of teat In said inner part of the aperture. Conveniently the members allow easy entry of the teat into the inner part of the aperture but apply a cleaning pressure to the surface of a teat in said inner part of the aperture. A member may have one or more small apertures to allow liquid supplied thereto to wash the teat surface. An initial amount of milk, may be drawn from a received teat, allowed to move over the teat and then discarded. Several elements may be arranged in a stack. There may be means to produce relative movement of the teat and an element, for example an oscillation lengthwise of the stack.
The teat cleaning apparatus may include within the teat receiving aperture a generally tubular form engagable around the teat.
The apparatus may include at least one of a sensor of material displaced from the teat by cleaning action and a sensor of the cleanliness of the teat.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
FIG. 1 shows a cleaning element according to the invention and
FIG. 2 shows an assembly of cleaning elements according to the invention.
FIG. 1 shows a cleaning arrangement element which is conveniently moulded from a flexible extensible material, such as latex, to form a body which, preferably, is hollow, although a solid form may be used. Other materials such as plastic may be used. The element has the form of a tubular ring R with several inwardly extending curved tubular members M1 to M4. The tubular members are preferably capable of being stiffened by supply of fluid pressure FP through a connection C to the ring part of the element. The fluid may be a liquid or a gas. The surface of the tubular members may have ripples, smooth projections or other surface texture T1, T2 to enhance their cleaning action, as explained below. The illustrated embodiment has four m
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patent: 4034714 (1977-07-01), Umbaugh
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patent: 5211132 (1993-05-01), Farina et al.
patent: 5383423 (1995-01-01), van der Lely
Allen Clive John
Crook Stephen Lindsay
Mottram Toby Trevor Fury
Wilkin Arthur Leonard
British Technology Group Limited
Swiatek Robert P.
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