Patent ID: 6427624
Filing Date: 2002-08-06
Classification: A01J

Abstract:
An elongate tubular teat cup liner (1) for milking a domestic animal, comprising: an inlet end (4) with an opening (8) into which a animal's teat (70) may be inserted; an outlet end (6) for discharging milk from the animal; inside the opening (8) a teat engaging portion (10) with annular walls (7, 107); a collapsible portion adjacent and downstream from the teat engaging portion (10), the collapsible portion having inner (113) and outer (13) walls being thinner than the walls (7, 107) of the teat engaging portion (10); an outlet tube (14) leading from the collapsible portion (12) to the outlet end (6); and a first sealing means (60) and a second sealing means (66) between which lies all of the collapsible portion (12), the first sealing means (60) being closer to the inlet end (4) than the second sealing means (66) and said first and second sealing means (60, 66) being adapted for making a seal between the outer surface of the liner (1) and a tubular teat cup shell (32) so that a pulsating differential vacuum pressure may be applied to the inner and outer walls (113, 13) of the collapsible portion (12) to cause the collapsible portion (12) to collapse and open repeatedly and so milk the animal, the distance from the opening (8) to a point (76) at which the collapsible portion (12) collapses being sufficient so that the collapsible portion (12) collapses substantially away from the animal's teat (70), characterized in that the collapsible portion (12) has an elongate cross-section with a minor cross-sectional axis (3) and a major cross-sectional axis (5), there being a tapering section (17) between the teat engaging portion (10) and the collapsible portion (12), the tapering portion having outer and inner walls (11, 111) the thickness of which tapers more gradually along a plane encompassing the minor cross-sectional axis (3) than along a plane encompassing the major cross-sectional axis (5), so that the tapering section (17) may collapse gently on the teat (70) as the collapsible portion (12) collapses.