Teat cup assembly with automatic cut off valve

A valve assembly for mounting in the outlet of a teat cup assembly. The valve assembly comprises a valve housing connected to the outlet of a teat cup assembly. The housing includes a nipple formed in the bottom portion thereof for connection to a milk suction line. A valve member is mounted inside the valve housing and adapted to seat on a valve seat in the housing when the interior of the housing is exposed to atmospheric pressure. The valve assembly further includes a plunger means slidably mounted in an opening in the wall of the valve housing, and the plunger means is adapted to slide inwardly into the valve housing when the pressure in the housing falls below atmospheric pressure. The inward movement of the plunger means is adapted to dislodge the valve member from its seated position in the valve housing.

Field 
The invention relates in general to teat cup assemblies and automatic valve 
incorporated with the teat cup assemblies for turning off the suction to 
the teat cup assemblies. A teat cup employing a built in valving means is 
provided for closing individual hose lines when a teat cup and its 
respective hose line fall from a teat of the animal being milked. 
State of the Art 
The construction and design of automatic milking apparatus has been 
recognized as a very important consideration in the dairy industry. 
Bacterial contamination of the milking machines and milk contributes 
directly to economic loss in the dairy industry, and much effort has been 
made in hygienic precautionary measures as well as in the design and 
construction of the miling apparatus. 
A problem exists when a teat cup assemly falls from the teat of the animal 
being milked. Dirt and debris may be sucked into the fallen teat cup 
assembly and become contained in the milk. Conventional claws used in 
milking machines commonly contain ferrules which are supposed to kink the 
vacuum hose line when the teat cup assembly falls from the teat. These 
ferrules are often times unsuccessful in closing the vacuum hose, and dirt 
and debris is often times sucked into the milking machines. The ferrules 
are destructive of the vacuum hoses, especially when the hoses are made of 
silicone rubber. 
The use of various valves have been suggested between the suction line and 
the respective teat cup assembly. These valves provide means for opening 
and closing the suction line, but the valves are not well adapted to 
automatically close the vacuum line when one of the teat cup assemblies 
unexpectedly falls from the teat of the animal being milked. Examples of 
such valves are shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 938,857; 1,641,316; 
1,705,293; 2,986,117; 3,163,394; 3,520,330; and 3,550,612. 
Objectives 
A principal objective of the present invention is to provide a practical 
milking system which reduces the cyclic vacuum variations at the ends of 
the teats of the animal being milked and which otherwise occur due to 
opening and closing of the inflations of the other milking cups and by one 
or more milking cups falling from the teat of the animal. 
A particular objective of the invention is to provide a valve means which 
will prohibit large amounts of air or other matter from entering a milking 
system and deteriorating the vacuum or suction stability of the system 
when the teat cup assembly is not on the teat of the animal being milked. 
A further objective of the invention is to provide a valve means which will 
inhibit the transfer of disease such as mastitis from one cow to another 
as a result of backflow of milk from one teat cup assembly to another. 
A further objective of the invention is to provide a novel teat cup which 
has built thereinto a unique valving means adapted to close the vacuum 
hose line attached to the teat cup whenever the teat cup falls from a teat 
of the animal being milked. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The above objectives are achieved in accordance with the present invention 
by a novel teat cup assembly and in particular a novel valve means for 
mounting in the outlet of a teat cup assembly. The valve means is 
contained within a valve housing which also forms the outlet of the teat 
cup assembly. The housing includes a nipple formed in the bottom portion 
thereof for connection to a milk suction line. A valve member is mounted 
inside the housing and adapted to seat on a valve seat within the housing 
to effectively close the nipple when the interior of the housing is 
exposed to atmospheric pressure, i.e., when the teat cup assembly is not 
engaged on a teat of an animal which is to be milked. 
The valve means further includes a plunger means slidably mounted in the 
wall of the housing, with the plunger means being adapted to slide 
inwardly into the valve housing when the pressure in the housing falls 
below atmospheric pressure. The inward movement of the plunger means is 
adapted to dislodge the valve member from the valve seat within the 
housing and thus open the nipple to the valve housing and the teat cup 
assembly. When the side of the housing is exposed to atmospheric pressure, 
such as when the teat cup assembly becomes disengaged from the teat of the 
animal being milked, the plunger means moves outwardly from the housing, 
thus allowing the valve member to seat on the valve seat within the 
housing. 
Additional objects and features of the invention will become apparent from 
the following detailed description, taken together with the accompanying 
drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENTS 
Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings. A general 
milking system which incorporates the invention is shown in FIG. 1. The 
novel teat cup assemblies 20 will be described more fully hereinafter. In 
FIG. 1, the teat cup assemblies 20 are shown attached to the teats of the 
udder 21 of a cow. The vacuum hose lines 22 hang downwardly from the teat 
cups 20 and are collected or brought together in closely spaced 
arrangement by the novel collector member 23 which is described and 
claimed in my copending application Ser. No. 631,213. The collector member 
23 is of sufficient weight to provide adequate tension in the teats of the 
cow to facilitate opening of the teat lumen for maximum milk outflow. 
Generally, a weight of from about 2 to 6 pounds is preferable. The 
collector member 23 preferably includes a releasable clamp means 32, 
which, as fully described in my copending application Ser. No. 631,213, is 
adapted to simultaneously compress the vacuum hose lines when the clamp 
means is activated and, thus, close off the vacuum in the vacuum hose 
lines 22 to all the teat cup assemblies 20. The assembled hose lines 22 
can be periodically banded together to form a somewhat unitary, multi-line 
conduit 27 which extends from the collector member to the milk pail or 
common milk pipe 25 as shown in FIG. 1. 
One embodiment of the novel teat cup assembly, including a built in valve 
means which is automatically activated when the teat cup assembly falls 
from the teat of an animal, is illustrated in FIG. 2. The teat cup 
assembly comprises a rigid, tubular, outer shell 70 having a port and 
nipple 71 therein which is adapted to be connected to a source of 
pulsating vacuum. A rigid inner shell 72 can be provided, however, as is 
well known in the art, the teat cup assembly may be of the type which does 
not utilize the rigid inner shell (see, for example, the teat cup assembly 
of U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,480 which does not utilize a rigid inner shell). 
When an inner shell 72 is used, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the top of the 
inner shell 72 and the top of the outer shell 70 are sealed together, and 
an opening 73 is provided in the sidewall of the inner shell 72. An 
elongate tubular inflation 74 made of a resilient, flexible, elastomeric 
material is received longitudinally within the rigid, inner shell 72. The 
upper end of the inflation 74 is sealed to the upper end of the rigid, 
inner shell 72, and the lower end of the inflation 74 is sealed between 
the lower end of the rigid, inner shell 72 and the rigid, outer shell 70. 
A pulsating vacuum chamber, as is well known in the art, is formed between 
the inflation 74 and the rigid, inner shell 72. The pulsating vacuum is 
transmitted from the nipple 71 in the outer shell through the opening 73 
in the inner shell 72. When an inner shell is not being utilized, the 
inflation 74, as is well known, is sealed at its opposite ends to the 
outer shell 70, and the pulsating vacuum chamber is formed between the 
inflation 74 and the outer shell 70. 
A collection chamber and valve housing is formed beneath the lower end of 
the inflation 74, and the collection chamber is connected by the milk 
collecting tube 22 to a sourse of constant vacuum. The collecting chamber 
is formed by a cap member 76 which is attached to the bottom of the outer 
shell 70. The cap member 76 has a tapered or funnel-shaped section 76a, 
with a nipple 77 being attached to the lower portion of the funnel-shaped 
section 76a. The milk collecting tube 22 is connected to the nipple 77. 
Novel valving means are associated with the collection chamber of cap 
member 76, with the valving means being adapted to close the vacuum from 
the collecting tube 22 from the inflation 74 whenever the teat cup 
assembly falls from the teat of the animal being milked. The valving 
mechanism comprises a disc 78 which is adapted to move up and down within 
the funnel-shaped portion 76a of the cap member 76. When the disc 78 is in 
its lowermost position, it seats about its perimeter around the inner 
circumference of the funnel-shaped portion 76a of the cap member 76. The 
disc 78 is adapted to seat just above the nipple 77, such that when the 
disc 78 is seated against the inner wall of the funnel-shaped portion 76a 
of the cap member 76, the vacuum from the hose 22 and nipple 77 is shut 
off from the remaining part of the teat cup assembly including the 
inflation 74. 
Means are provided for restraining the movement of the disc to an up and 
down movement along the longitudinal center of the funnel-shaped portion 
76a of the cap member 76. As illustrated, a plunger rod 79 is attached to 
the underside of the disc 78 and extends downwardly from the center of the 
disc 78. The plunger rod 79 is oriented so as to be substantially 
perpendicular to the disc 78. The plunger rod 79 passes through an opening 
in the bottom apex of the funnel-shaped portion 76a. The opening in the 
apex of the funnel-shaped portion 76a forms a journal-like bearing in 
which the plunger rod 79 is adapted to move back and forth in a 
longitudinal direction along the central axis of the cap member 76. 
When a teat of an animal which is being milked is engaged in the teat 
entrance of the inflation 74, i.e., the open upper end of the inflation 
74, the constant vacuum applied to the cap member 76 and thus the 
inflation 74 causes the plunger 79 and disc 78 to automatically move 
upwardly toward the inflation. Actually, the atmospheric pressure on the 
exposed lower end of the plunger 79 pushes the plunger 79 and disc 78 
upwardly when the vacuum is drawn within the cap member 76 and inflation 
74. When, for one reason or another, the teat cup assembly falls from the 
teat of the animal being milked, the plunger 79 and disc 78 automatically 
move downwardly until the disc 78 seats against the funnel-shaped sidewall 
of the cap member 76. The downward movement of the plunger 79 and disc 78 
results from the atmospheric pressure in the inflation 74 when the teat of 
the animal no longer seals the inflation 74. The atmospheric pressure 
pushes the disc 78 downwardly against the vacuum which is being drawn on 
the lower side of the disc. 
The seating of the disc 78 closes the nipple 77 from the atmosphere and 
stops the otherwise uninhibited flow of atmospheric air through the 
inflation 74 into the vacuum system of the milking apparatus. This 
prevents dirt and debris from being sucked through the inflation 74 and 
into the milk system. Further, it greatly reduces the volumetric 
requirements of the vacuum system, such that the vacuum system can 
adequately maintain vacuum on any teat cup assembly which is still engaged 
on a teat of the animal being milked. Otherwise, the vacuum system must be 
greatly oversized volumetrically so that it can handle the uninhibited 
inflow of atmospheric air while still maintaining necessary vacuum on any 
teat cup assembly which is still engaged on a teat of the animal being 
milked. 
Means for locking the plunger 79 and disc 78 in the open position is 
advantageously provided to aid the dairyman in cleaning the teat cup 
assemblies after use. By locking the disc 78 in the open position, 
cleaning fluids can be flushed through the teat cup assembly without any 
difficulty. This assures uniform cleaning of the teat cup assemblY. As 
shown in FIG. 2, the locking means comprises an off-center disc 80 which 
is mounted to the protruding lower end of the plunger 79. The disc 80 is 
eccentrically mounted on the plunger 79, and to lock the disc 78 and 
plunger 79 in an open position, the plunger is moved upwardly, with the 
eccentric disc 80 being rotated so that the lobe on the eccentric disc 80 
engages the nipple 77. This locks the plunger 79 and disc 78 in the open 
position. To release the plunger 79 and disc 78 for normal up and down 
movement, the eccentric disc 80 is rotated so that it no longer contacts 
the nipple 77. 
It is also to be noted that it is advantageous to provide a small air bleed 
orifice on the teat cup assembly. As shown in FIG. 2, the small air bleed 
orifice is identified by the numeral 82. The air bleed orifice is located 
on the sidewall of the cap member 76. The air bleed orifice 82 allows for 
a constant minimum flow of atmospheric air through the cap member 76, the 
nipple 77 and the milk tube 22. This air bleed prevents milk from backing 
up in the milk tube 22 due to variances in the pressures on associated 
teat cup assemblies. 
A second, somewhat modified embodiment of the valve means of the present 
invention is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The modified valve means comprises a 
ball 35 enclosed in a hollow housing 36 made of plastic. The housing 
includes sides 37, 38, 39 and 40 which are spaced apart so as to generally 
restrict lateral movement of the ball 35. The spacing between the sides 39 
and 40 is about 1.3 times the diameter of the ball 35 in one lateral 
direction, and the spacing between the sides 37 and 38 is about 1.9 times 
the diameter of the ball in another lateral direction. In this embodiment, 
sides 39 and 40 are flat and sides 37 and 38 are curved. 
The hollow housing 36 includes an open upper end 41 and a bottom portion 
42. The upper end 41 is formed with an outwardly extending lip 43. Over 
the end of the housing is placed a threaded sleeve 44 with a bottom 
inwardly facing lip 45. The lip 45 on the sleeve 44 engages the lip 43 on 
the housing and secures the valve means to the teat cup assembly 46 when 
the sleeve 44 is threaded on the teat cup assembly 46. As the valve means 
is tighted up against the teat cup assembly 46, the upper end 41 of the 
housing 36 engages and secures the lower end 47 of a teat cup (not shown) 
against the teat cup assembly shell 48. A pin 49 is attached to the sides 
of the housing 36 and extends across the open upper end 41. The pin 49 
keeps the ball 35 inside the hollow housing 36. 
Formed in the bottom portion 42 of the housing is a nipple 50 for 
establishing connection of the housing interior to suction line 22. Nipple 
50 extends at an angle to the vertical axis of the teat cup assembly 46. 
The end 51 of the nipple forms an opening 52 in the bottom portion 42 which 
acts as a seat for the ball 35. When the ball 35 is seated in the opening 
52, it provides a partial seal of the opening 52, because of a groove 57 
extending the length of the interior surface of the nipple 50. 
Mounted adjacent the opening 52 is a plunger 53 slidably mounted in a 
sleeve or bore 54 in the bottom portion 42. The plunger 53 is inclined 
upwardly towards the ball 35 when the ball 35 is seated in the opening 52. 
The end 55 of the plunger 53 inside of the housing 36 includes a rim 56 
which is larger than the diameter of the bore 54 in order to retain the 
plunger 53 in the bore 54. The axes of the plunger 53 and the nipple 50 
are in the same vertical plane, as shown in FIG. 3. 
The diameter of the plunger 53 is slightly less than the diameter of the 
bore 54, so that when the end 55 of plunger 53 is away from the bore 54, a 
small amount of air enters the housing 36 around the plunger 53 and 
through the bore 54. In a milking operation, the slight air leakage 
assists the flow of milk through the valve means. 
The valve means is molded using conventional means, and can be assembled by 
placing the plunger 53 in the bore 54, and then placing the ball 35 into 
the hollow housing 36. The pin 49 is then secured across the open end 41 
of the valve housing 36 to retain the ball 35 and the plunger 53 in the 
housing. 
Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustated and 
described, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is made by 
way of example and that various other embodiments are possible without 
departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following 
claims, which subject matter is regarded as the invention.