Milk-claw including inspection means for milk sucked from cow's teats

A milk-claw includes a collecting chamber for milk is formed within a drum housing and connected to inlets and an outlet for milk respectively; inspection chambers for milk which have been defined adjacent to said collecting chamber for milk by means of a partition wall and in which part of the milk flowing in the collecting chamber for milk through said inlets flows; and electrodes for measuring the electric conductivity of the milk flowed in said inspection chambers for milk; wherein a through hole is perforated in said partition wall interposed between said collecting chamber for milk and inspection chambers so that the milk flowed in said inspection chambers for milk may flow back in the collecting chamber.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a milk-claw provided with inspection means for 
the milk sucked from cow's teats which are capable of inspecting whether 
the cow is infected by mastitis or not and if so, its degree in the course 
of milking. 
Generally speaking, mastitis is publicly known as a disease which is most 
prevalent in cows. And, it is said that mastitis occupies 25% and a 
fraction of the total sickness, wound and accidents that cows sustain. 
This mastitis not only lowers the quality of milk but also reduces the 
output of milk, and further brings about a big economic loss such as 
disuse of the milk. 
In view of this, there is an eager demand for an early discovery of said 
mastitis. For the purpose of meeting this demand there is proposed a way 
of detecting mastitis by measuring the electric conductivity of milk. The 
principle upon which this method is based is that when a cow is infected 
by mastitis the sodium chloride content of the milk increases and thus the 
electric conductivity of the milk increases. This method is surely 
advantageous in that it does not need an especially high level of 
experties and therefore any one can make said measurement with ease, but 
is disadvantageous in that it takes a long period of inspection time 
because of the inevitable necessity of sampling the milk sucked from each 
teat and inspecting it, respectively, and further that it is impossible to 
make a continuous inspection throughout the milking operation for 
discovering abnormality without a moment's delay. 
In this situation, there has usually been an earnest desire for the advent 
of an inspection apparatus capable of achieving the inspection without 
taking a long period of time as described above and further discovering 
abnormality quickly in the manner of measuring the electric conductivity 
of the milk sucked from each teat continuously throughout the milking 
operation, omitting the above-mentioned troublesome sampling. In order to 
meet this ardent desire, Japanese Utility Model application 97033/1978 has 
proposed an inspection apparatus. 
As is shown in FIG. 1, this apparatus is one for feeding the milk from teat 
cups 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d attached to cow's four teats through milk feeding 
pipes 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d having traps 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d respectively and 
further a transfer pipe 5 to a milker, wherein a pair of electrodes are 
installed in each of traps 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d for measuring the electric 
conductivity of the milk by means of an electric conductivity measuring 
apparatus 6. An electric conductivity measurement is made on the milk 
drawn from each of the cow's four teats, individually, and since milk 
showing a high electric conductivity value indicates the presence of 
mastitis and the degree of infection, the individual teat infected can be 
identified. 
However, this apparatus is defective in that the milking operation is 
effected by vacuum suction but the milk sucked from teats is discharged 
intermittently. Therefore, the said milk does not flow through milk 
feeding pipes 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d at a fixed rate continuously, and 
consequently air bubbles are sometimes mingled with the milk within traps 
3a, 3b, 3c and 3d. And, since due to these bubbles the milk is prevented 
from contacting the electrodes and further the milk once within the traps 
is liable to stagnate therewithin and is difficult to exchange it with a 
fresh milk, it is impossible to measure the electric conductivity thereof 
correctly and consequently correct inspection of the milk is also 
impossible. 
To cope with this, it may be contemplated to provide each of traps 3a, 3b, 
3c and 3d with an apparatus for overcoming the above defect. But, this 
contemplation is defective in that much trouble and expenses are required 
therefor. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of this invention to provide an inspection apparatus which 
is capable of eliminating those defects inherent in the above-mentioned 
conventional inspection apparatus and continuously measuring the electric 
conductivity of fresh milk from each teat with accuracy and further which 
is simpler and less expensive. 
According to this invention, the above object can be achieved by a 
milk-claw to measure the electric conductivity of milk in place of the 
traps which have hitherto been used in the measuring operation. 
According to the preferred embodiment of this invention as aforesaid there 
is provided a milk-claw which is formed within a drum housing and includes 
a collecting chamber for milk connected to inlets and an outlet for milk 
respectively; inspection chambers for milk are disposed adjacent to said 
collecting chamber for milk and are defined by means of a partition wall 
and in which part of the milk flowing in the collecting chamber for milk 
through said inlets is allowed to flow; and electrodes attached to the 
wall surfaces of said inspection chambers for measuring the electric 
conductivity of the milk within the inspection chambers for milk. A small 
hole is disposed in the lower part of the partition wall between said 
collecting chamber for milk and inspection chambers for milk so that the 
milk may flow from the inspection chambers for milk through said small 
hole in the collecting chamber for milk. 
It is another object of this invention to provide a milk-claw which is 
capable of keeping the inside thereof clean. 
The aforesaid object of this invention can be achieved according to the 
embodiment of this invention wherein a cover is mounted detachably on the 
upper part of said drum housing and an inlet for milk is associated with 
this cover. In other words, the collecting chamber for milk and inspection 
chambers for milk defined within the drum housing can be kept clean by 
removing the cover to remove the residual milk therefrom and further 
cleanse them. 
It is a further object of this invention to provide a milk-claw which is 
capable of measuring the electric conductivity of milk more accurately by 
preventing bubbles, if any, contained in the milk flowing into milk-claw 
from flowing in the inspection chambers for milk. 
The aforesaid object of this invention can be achieved according to the 
embodiment of this invention wherein inlets for milk are formed in the 
upper wall of a drum housing in a manner of slanting downwardly from 
outside to inside thereof and the lower ends of said inlets for milk are 
arranged to open above the partition wall provided between a collecting 
chamber for milk and inspection chambers for milk to thereby let 
bubble-containing milk flow down in the collecting chamber for milk. 
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a milk-claw which 
is capable of maintaining the flow rate of milk within inspection chambers 
substantially constant by stopping or controlling the discharge of milk 
from a collecting chamber for milk as occasion demands. 
The aforesaid object of this invention can be achieved by the embodiment of 
this invention wherein a collecting chamber for milk is defined by a 
cylindrical partition wall and a bottom wall; this collecting chamber is 
water tightly and rotatably disposed within a drum housing. An inner 
outlet for milk is formed in the partition wall of this collecting chamber 
for milk and an outer outlet for milk is formed in the outer wall of the 
drum housing at a location opposite to said inner outlet for milk so that 
the relative location of both outlets for milk may change by the rotation 
of the collecting chamber for milk. A further embodiment of this invention 
is wherein an outlet for milk is formed in the bottom wall of a collecting 
chamber for milk and this outlet is provided with an on-off regulating 
valve.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The first embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, where reference 
numeral 11 denotes a drum housing. This housing 11 has a cylindrical drum 
12. On the upper end of this drum 12 there is formed an upper flange 13. 
And, the inner surface of the drum 12 is provided with four longitudinal 
recesses 16 having a circular arc section in the peripheral direction. An 
outer outlet 15 for milk is formed between any pair of these recesses 16 
and at the lower end of the drum 12. The outer peripheral surface of the 
recess 16 is provided at the upper portion with a pair of electrodes 17 
and 18 vertically displaced from each other. These electrodes 17 and 18 
are connected to an electric conductivity measuring apparatus (not shown) 
of the exactly same kind as the electric conductivity measuring apparatus 
6. 
In this case where the double-pole method is employed as the measuring 
method, two electrodes are used. However, it is to be noted that a more 
plural-pole method may be employed and with that method any number of 
electrodes may be used, i.e. more than two. These electrodes 17 and 18 are 
made of metals, which are inert from the viewpoint of food sanitation, 
such as platinum, stainless steel and the like or carbonaceous materials. 
A collecting chamber 22 for milk is inserted in this cylindrical drum 12 
and contacts the bottom wall 20 thereof, said chamber 22 being defined by 
a cylindrical partition 19 and the bottom wall 20. The outer peripheral 
surface of the cylindrical partition 19 is water-tight and slidably fitted 
on the inner peripheral surface of the drum 12 between recesses 16 and in 
addition the bottom wall 20 is packed with an annular packing 21 and the 
outer peripheral surface of said bottom wall is water-tight and slidably 
fitted on the inner peripheral wall of the cylindrical drum 12, whereby 
each recess 16 may form a separate inspection chamber for milk (the 
inspection chamber so formed is also designated 16 in the drawings). Small 
holes 23 are formed at the lower end of the cylindrical partition 19 and 
at a position opposite to the inspection chamber 16 for milk, and an inner 
outlet 24 for milk is formed at a position between any pair of these small 
holes and adjacent to the outer outlet for milk. In this instance, the 
diameter of the outlets 15 and 24 are determined to be greater than that 
of the small holes 23 and the ratio of diameters is such that the flow 
rate of milk discharged from the outlets 15 and 24 is greater than that of 
milk passing through the small hole 23. Consequently there may be no 
possibility of the milk within the collecting chamber 22 for milk 
overflowing into the inspection chamber 16 for milk. 
A flange 26 of a cover means 25 is placed on the upper flange 13 and thus 
the cover means 25 is mounted detachably on the cylindrical drum 12 by 
using a fitting means (not shown). The cover means 25 is provided with 
four inlets 27 for milk inclined downwardly toward the inside from the 
outside thereof and the lower ends of said inlets 27 for milk open above 
the cylindrical partition 19. And, these inlets 27 for milk are connected 
to teat cups (not shown) of the same kind as teat cups 1a, 1b, 1c and 1d. 
In the practice of milk inspection using the above configured device, milk 
is supplied to each inlet 27 in the milk-claw. This milk is discharged 
above the cylindrical partition 19. The thus discharged milk is separated 
by said cylindrical partition 19. A part of the milk flows into the 
collecting chamber 22 for milk, and another part thereof flows into the 
inspection chamber 16 for milk. Even if air bubbles are generated midway, 
in discharging the milk from outlet 15, the bubbles, which float to the 
surface of the milk, are introduced in the collecting chamber 22 for milk 
but do not enter the inspection chamber 16 for milk. 
The milk thus entering directly into the collecting chamber 22 for milk and 
the milk entering into the collecting chamber 22 for milk through small 
holes 23 from the inspection chamber 16 for milk flow together and are fed 
to a feeding pipe (not shown) through outlets 24 and 15. In this instance, 
since the diameters of outlets 24 and 15 are greater than those of small 
holes 23 as referred to above, the flow rate of the milk passing through 
the former is substantially equal to or greater than the flow rate of the 
milk passing through the latter, whereby the milk flows slowly within the 
inspection chamber 16 for milk and thus the occurrence of air bubbles can 
be suppressed. This prevents the occurrence of a bad contact between the 
electrodes 17 and 18 and the milk caused by air bubbles. In addition 
thereto, since the inspection chamber 16 for milk is always filled with 
the milk even when the milk flows in intermittently, and in the case where 
the quantity of milk fed to the milk-claw decreases, this prevents 
emission of an incorrect electric signal. Thus, the electric conductivity 
of the milk can be measured correctly and the milk inspection can be 
achieved with reliable accuracy. 
The collecting chamber 22 for milk is designed to turn relative to the 
housing 11. Therefore, should there be necessity of discontinuing the 
discharge of milk or regulating said discharge, it will suffice to turn 
the collecting chamber 22 for milk, thereby closing the outlet 15 or 
regulating its degree of opening. 
If the device after having been thus used is in need of cleaning the inside 
thereof, the cleaning operation is effected through the sequence of 
dismantling the cover means 25 from the housing 11 and thereafter removing 
the residual milk from and cleaning the inside of the device by the use of 
a suitable cleaner. 
FIGS. 5 to 7 show the second embodiment of this invention. According to 
this embodiment, the opening or closing and regulation of outlet 15 is 
arranged to be conducted by providing an outlet 15 protruded to the 
outside from a recess 28 formed in the center of bottom wall 20 of a 
collecting chamber 22 for milk. The opening or closing and regulating of 
said outlet 15 by means of a hand-operated valve or driven valve (not 
shown) incorporated in recess 28. This avoids the manual control disclosed 
in connection with the first embodiment of the invention, i.e. that of 
turning the collecting chamber 22 for milk relative to the drum housing 
11. 
In this embodiment, furthermore, it is to be noted that an inspection 
chamber 16 for milk is defined by an inward, enlarged part of a 
cylindrical partition 19 and a cylindrical drum 12. 
The second embodiment as aforesaid may be carried out in the exactly same 
manner as the first embodiment except that the opening and closing and 
regulation of the outlet 15 is conducted in the different way as referred 
to above. 
The third embodiment shown in FIG. 8 is exactly same as the second 
embodiment except that a means constituting the inner wall of a collecting 
chamber 16 for milk is formed not by a cylindrical partition 19 of said 
chamber 16 but by a partition 31 attached to the inner surface of a 
cylindrical drum 12. 
Although particular preferred embodiments of the invention have been 
disclosed hereinabove for purposes of illustration, it will be understood 
that variations or modifications thereof which lie within the scope of the 
invention as defined by the appended claims are fully contemplated.