Method of milking

Details Method of milking Method of milking

1993-07-22

1995-08-22

Price, Thomas

Animal husbandry

Milkers

Methods of milking

A01J 500

Patent

active

054430356

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of milking an animal by using a milking machine having at least one teat cup with a teat cup liner therein for receiving a teat of the animal, a pulsation chamber being defined between the teat cup and the teat cup liner. There are means for subjecting the pulsation chamber to a pulsating pressure varying between a first pressure and a sub-atmospheric second pressure, which is lower than said first pressure. Each pulsation of said pulsating pressure includes a pressure decreasing phase, during which the pulsating pressure decreases from said first pressure to said second pressure, and a pressure increasing phase, during which the pulsating pressure increases from said second pressure to said first pressure. Means are provided for subjecting the interior of the teat cup liner to said sub-atmospheric second pressure for extracting milk from the animal's teat. The milking of the animal includes in sequence an initial massage period, during which the milk flow begins, a main flow period, during which the milk flow first increases to a main flow and then amounts to said main flow, a flow decreasing period, during which the milk flow at first for a short while amounts to said main flow and then decreases, and a flow terminating period, during which the milk flow ceases.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When milking mechanically it is desirable that the milking of each animal, such as a cow, takes place rapidly, so that the milking machine is efficiently utilized. However, the more rapid the milking operation is carried out, the more rest milk will remain in the udder at the end of the milking operation. Said rest milk must be extracted by manual manipulation of the milking machine, which is labour consuming. Alternatively, the rest milk is simply left in the udder until the next milking occasion, which results in a reduction of extracted milk. In addition, a more rapid milking has the consequence that the teat periodically, especially at the end of the milking, is treated ungently, which may give rise to injuries to the teat and deteriorated udder health.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a method of milking, which enables a relatively rapid milk extraction, reduces the rest milk and results in a gentle treatment of the cow's teats.
This object can be obtained by means of a method of the kind initially stated, which is characterized by operating the milking machine to change the pulsating pressure during at least one of said pressure decreasing phase and said pressure increasing phase of each pulsation at a slower rate during at least one of said massage period, flow decreasing period and flow terminating period than during said main flow period.
As a consequence, the teat cup liner will move slower during opening and/or closing of the interior of the teat cup liner during any of said periods of the milking. A slower opening of the interior of the teat cup liner leads to that the teat has more time to expand radially and maintains its frictional engagement with the teat cup liner, whereby the teat cup is prevented from crawling upwards on the teat towards the udder and from causing a throttling of the milk conducting interior of the teat close to the udder. Such a crawling of the teat cup makes the milking more difficult and gives rise to an increased rest milk. A slower closing of the interior of the teat cup liner means that the teat is treated more gently by the teat cup liner.
During the main flow period, when the larger quantity of the milk is extracted, the pulsating pressure in the pulsation chamber changes at a normal rate, which means that the total milking still can be carried out relatively rapidly.


BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a graph illustrating the size of the milk flow during a milking operation;
FIG. 2 is a graph illustrating a cycle of the vacuum in the pulsation chamber during milking showing prolonged opening of the interior of the teat

REFERENCES:
patent: 2039421 (1936-05-01), Jansson
patent: 4292926 (1981-10-01), Tilman
patent: 5218924 (1993-06-01), Thompson et al.

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