Animal husbandry – Confining or housing – Stall
Patent
1996-02-07
1998-03-17
Price, Thomas
Animal husbandry
Confining or housing
Stall
A01K 112
Patent
active
057275041
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A milking stand of this type is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,108. A breast-end locking component can be displaced horizontally, providing a wide-open entrance until the stands are occupied. Once the animals are in place, the breast-end locking component is moved toward a rear barrier, optimally orienting the animals for milking. Although the wide-open entrance facilitates occupation of the stands, an irregular structure in the form of lengths of undulating pipes on each side delays it. Furthermore, depending on its extent, the displacement of the breast-end locking component requires more space than in conventional stands.
A milking stand is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,608, wherein a vertically moving smooth and flat barrier allows all the animals to leave the stand simultaneously. This barrier however lacks components that help orient the animals. They can come into contact with the barrier and shoulder smaller animals out of the way. It is also possible for the animals to remain in an orientation that is not ideal for milking.
French 2 565 778 A1 also discloses a milking stand with a barrier with no means of orienting the animals for milking. let them out, the barrier must be pivoted in an arc into a position above the animals. The pivoting motion demands a lot of space. Since there are no means of orienting the animals, there is no problem with allowing them into the system. The same feature, however is a drawback to ideally orienting the animals for milking.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is an improved milking stand of the aforesaid type that will ensure its unimpeded and accelerated occupation without taking up much space.
This object is attained in accordance with the present invention by the characteristic recited in the body of claim 1.
The locking component can accordingly be raised from a lowermost position, wherein it prevents the animals from leaving, to an uppermost position wherein it allows them to leave. Since raising the locking component allows all the animals to leave the stand at the same time, they can be replaced particularly rapidly. When the first wave tube is in its mainly vertical position, the entrance will be wide open and the breast-end locking component will constitute a flat demarcation that will prevent the entering animals from crowding together. They can accordingly be driven in essentially more rapidly, which will save time in large parlors in particular. Once the animals are in place, the first wave tube is shifted into its mainly horizontal position, ideally orienting the animals for milking and maintaining them in that orientation.
The locking component in one advantageous embodiment of the present invention has another wave tube next to the first wave tube that can be shifted into a horizontal position by rotating the barrier farther. The second wave tube extends farther radially than the first. The second wave tube moves the animals nearer the rear demarcation, orienting them even more ideally for milking. The second wave tube also makes it possible to orient a group of smaller animals more ideally at the breast end.
The locking component in accordance with the present invention can in one practical procedure be supported in uprights at each end and be actuated by axially displaceable piston rods. Such piston rods can be hydraulically, pneumatically, or electrically operated.
The various positions of the locking components can be attained if the uprights have tracks for the locking components to travel along, moving them vertically when the piston rods are actuated and rotating them once they are in the uppermost and lowermost position in order to shift the wave tubes into their mainly horizontal positions.
The present invention will now be specified with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a cross-section through the milking stand with the locking component in the animal-access position.
FIG. 2 is a view from the direction indicated by arrow
REFERENCES:
patent: 3166044 (1965-01-01), Darling
patent: 3785346 (1974-01-01), Dower
patent: 5259335 (1993-11-01), Moreau
patent: 5285746 (1994-02-01), Moreau
Price Thomas
Westfalia Separator Aktiengesellschaft
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