Animal husbandry – Milkers – Methods of milking
Patent
1996-05-30
1997-12-16
Weiss, John G.
Animal husbandry
Milkers
Methods of milking
A01J 516
Patent
active
056973233
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method of milking an animal, in which the animal's teats are inserted into collapsable tubular liners and the interior of the liners is exposed to a milking vacuum for extracting milk from the teats. The invention also relates to a milking machine for performing the method of milking.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A cow to be milked is prepared by massaging the udder and the teats for relaxing muscles in the latter, in order to make free passages for milk between the interior of the udder and the teats. The massage also stimulates the cow, so that the hormone oxytocin is activated to cause the alveoli of the udder to contract and press out milk. The effect of the oxytocin appears about one minute after the preparation of the cow for milking and is effective during about four to seven minutes. Accordingly, milking should be completed during that time, in order to achieve a high milk yield, because after that the cow does not cooperate actively.
The achievement of a high milk yield is also dependent on that the cow is not disturbed or treated roughly or painfully during milking. Otherwise, the hormone adrenalin might be released and cause the udder muscles to contract, whereby the milk cannot leave the alveoli area.
The milking vacuum evacuates air in the liners under the teats, so that milk is sucked out of each teat through the streak canal at the tip of the teat. In the following, the term "vacuum" is defined to mean any pressure below atmospheric pressure, specified as the reduction below ambient atmospheric pressure. Since the milk cannot be sucked out continuously as this would prevent the blood circulation in the teat and cause the cow to feel pain, it is common practice to expose the liners to an exterior pulsating vacuum, typically alternating between atmospheric pressure and a peak vacuum level of the same level as the milking vacuum level. When a liner is exposed to atmospheric pressure it squeezes its teat so that milk ejection is interrupted and the teat is at rest, with the result that the blood circulation in the teat is promoted.
In practice, so-called teatcups are used to provide said exterior pulsating vacuum. A teatcup comprises a liner and a tubular rigid shell enclosing the liner, whereby a pulsation chamber is formed between the liner and the shell. In milking machines currently marketed by Alfa Laval, the pulsation chamber of each teatcup is exposed to a pulsating vacuum having a rate of typically 60 cycles/minute and varying between atmospheric pressure and a peak vacuum level of about 42-46 kPa and 48-50 kPa for low level milking system and high level milking system, respectively, while the interior of the liner under the teat is exposed to a milking vacuum of about the same level as the peak vacuum level.
The relatively strong milking vacuum is needed primarily for ensuring a safe attachment of the teat cups to the teats and, secondary, for achieving a rapid milking and a high milk yield. However, a disadvantage of such a strong milking vacuum is that it might treat the teats roughly, especially at the beginning and at the end of the milking interval when there is no or insignificant milk flow through one or more teats. Attempts have been made to eliminate this disadvantage by milking according to different modes of operation dring the milking interval, in order to provide for a gentle milking also at the beginning and at the end of the milking interval.
Thus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,532, U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,926 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,359 disclose various milking methods in which the vacuum conditions in the teatcups are controlled in response to milk flow, in order to treat the teats gently.
It is also known to milk according to different modes of operation during the milking interval for other reasons than for providing a gentle teat treatment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,218,924 discloses a milking method in which the rate of liner opening movement is changed in response to elapsed time or milk flow
REFERENCES:
patent: 3172391 (1965-03-01), Norton
patent: 3234906 (1966-02-01), Jensen
patent: 3754632 (1973-08-01), Troberg et al.
patent: 4292926 (1981-10-01), Tilman
patent: 4391221 (1983-07-01), Hoefelmayr et al.
patent: 5090359 (1992-02-01), Pettersson et al.
patent: 5218924 (1993-06-01), Thompson et al.
patent: 5443035 (1995-08-01), Lind et al.
Alfa Laval Agri AB
Cho David J.
Weiss John G.
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