A construction including an implement for milking animals

Abstract: A construction including an implement for milking animals, such as cows, equipped with a milking robot (6), said implement for milking animals comprising a feeding implement having a feeding trough (15) for receiving a quantity of fodder. The feeding implement comprises means for adding a liquid, such as water, to the fodder.

Description: The invention relates to a construction including an implement for milking animals, such as cows, according to the preamble of claim 1. Such implements are known. Generally, a construction of the above-defined type is provided with one or a plurality of feeding troughs, in which fodder is automatically supplied to the animals to be milked. Supplying fodder is usually effected by means of a concentrate metering system on the basis of data supplied by an animal identification system, in which an animal reporting at the feeding trough receives a predetermined quantity of fodder. The invention has for its object to provide an implement of the type defined above, it being possible to increase the rate of consumption. According to the invention, this is achieved in that the feeding implement comprises means for adding a liquid, such as water, to the fodder. The means for adding the liquid comprise, in accordance with the invention, a computer-controlled valve and a spraying device. Using the spraying device, it is possible to moisten fodder, such as cubes of concentrate. In accordance with a further feature of the invention, the spraying device may have been disposed near the feeding trough. In accordance with a still further feature of the invention, the milking box comprises a drinking bowl, in which, depending on the animal, a quantity of liquid, such as water and/or milk, is supplied. In accordance with a still further characterizing feature of the invention, the liquid is dispensed during the anticipated milking period and/or pre-treatment period and/or after-treatment period. For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of an implement for milking animals, including a milking robot, and a concentrate metering system including a feeding trough with a measuring device for measuring the quantity of fodder in the feeding trough; Figure 2 is a cut-away and enlarged detail of the concentrate metering system of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a view of the concentrate metering system taken on the line III-III in Figure 2. Figure 1 is a side view of a milking/feeding box 1 which includes a railing 2 disposed near the circumference of an animal 3 during its stay in the milking/feeding box 1. The railing 2 includes two uprights 4, between which there are two cross-beams 5 which are arranged remotely from and parallel to one another. At one side of the milking/feeding box, a milking robot 6 is attached to the cross-beams 5. The milking robot 6 comprises a robot arm 7 having at its end teat cups 9 supported by a carrier 8. The robot arm 7 further accommodates near the teat cups 9 a sensor 10, with the aid of which the position of the teats of an animal can be determined. The sensor may be constituted by a laser sensor. By means of (non-shown) cylinders, the robot arm 7 can be moved in the vertical direction as well as in a horizontal plane. The cylinders may be constituted by pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders, or the robot arm may be moved by means of electric motors. Furthermore, on the robot arm 7 there is disposed a vertical support 11 which is connected to a parallelogram construction 12. The other end of the parallelogram structure 12 is connected to a likewise vertically extending supporting beam 13, which is provided at both ends with a pair of roller elements 14. The vertically extending supporting beam 13 is arranged by means of the roller elements 14 between the cross-beams 5 of the railing 2. Using a (non-shown) electric motor, the robot arm 7 can be moved in the lengthwise direction of the cross-beam 5. Near the leading side of the milking/feeding box 1, a feeding trough 15 is attached to the upright 4. The feeding trough 15 is connected to the upright 4 by means of a parallelogram construction 16. At its bottom side, the feeding trough 15 is supported by a supporting beam 17. In addition, arranged between the supporting beam 17 and the bottom side of the feeding trough 15 there is a measuring device 18, with the aid of which the weight of the feeding trough 15 and its contents can be determined. In the present embodiment, the measuring device 18 comprises a piezoelectric element. Furthermore, at the exterior side of the milking/feeding box 1, a drinking bowl 19 is attached to the upright 4. Near the upper side of the feeding trough, a computer-controlled spraying device 20 is further attached to the upright 4, with the aid of which the fodder present in the feeding trough 15 can be moistened with a liquid, such as water. A metering device 21 for dispensing fodder into the feeding trough 15, such as concentrate, is attached over the feeding trough 15 to the upright 4. The metering device 21 includes a hopper 22 for the fodder. Against the outer wall of the hopper 22 there is attached a receiver 23 which is part of a (non-shown) cow identification system. The receiver 23 can receive signals from a transmitter 24, which by means of a collar 25 is placed around the neck of an animal. Figures 2 and 3 illustrate in greater detail a concentrate metering device 21. At its bottom side, the hopper 22 has an aperture 26 to which a metering mechanism 27 is contiguous. The metering mechanism 27 comprises a blade wheel 29 accommodated in a cylindrical housing 28 and a computer-controlled metering slide 30 accommodated in the wall of the cylindrical housing 28. In addition, provided near the bottom side of the metering slide 30 there is a grinding device 31, with the aid of which the fodder measured out by the metering mechanism 27 can be ground. The ground fodder leaves the grinding device 31 via an aperture 37 and drops into the feeding trough 15. The grinding device 31 includes a second cylindrical housing 32 which accommodates a drivable shaft 33, on which spaced-apart knives 34 are fitted. Knives 35, which are likewise spaced apart from each other and are in a fixed position, are attached to the interior wall of the second cylindrical housing 32. During grinding of the fodder, the motor-driven knives 34 pass between the knives 35 secured on the second cylindrical housing, as a result of which the fodder is ground. Both the fixed knives 35 and the drivable knives 34 are of a curved and moon-shaped design. Arranged at the exterior side of the two cylindrical housings 28 and 32 there are arranged electric motors 36, whose number of revolutions can be made variable under the control of a computer. The electric motors 36 drive the blade wheel 29 and the rotatable knives 34, respectively. The above-described construction including an implement for milking animals operates as follows: After an animal 3 has entered via a (non-shown) entrance door, the milking/feeding box 1 and the transmitter 24 has come within the receiving range of the receiver 23, the animal 3 is automatically identified by the cow identification system. In addition, for each animal it can be stored in the computer how much fodder the relevant animal receives per feeding period. The quantity of fodder to be supplied can be made to depend, in the computer, on the stage of the lactation period the animal is in. In the computer there is defined for each animal the relationship between the productivity of the animal and the related fodder consumption. Thereafter, using the computer, it is computed how much fodder the concentrate metering system 21 is to deposit per unit of time in the feeding trough 15 during the milking period, so as to provide that the quantity of fodder to be dispensed is distributed uniformly or at least substantially uniformly over the feeding period. The fodder doses deposited in the feed through 15 are measured such that the animal 3 can always eat some fodder during the feeding period in the milking/feeding box. Since the animal 3 remains quiet during eating, it is possible for the sensor 10 to determine with great precision the position of the teats of the animal to be milked, and the teat cups 9 can be connected relatively quickly to the teats of the animal. Using the measuring device 18, it is further determined how much fodder the relevant animal has consumed during the feeding period. If after the feeding period it is found that the animal has left fodder behind in the feeding trough, this quantity is stored in the computer in the file of the relevant animal as still owing to it and this quantity can optionally be added in one or more subsequent feeding periods. If thereafter another animal reports at the milking/feeding box 1, then in the computer the quantity of fodder left behind in the feeding trough 15 is deducted from the quantity of fodder to be supplied to the relevant animal. In a further (non-shown) embodiment, the feeding trough may include means, with the aid of which the feeding trough 15 can automatically be emptied before a further animal enters the milking/feeding box 1. Stored in the (non-shown) computer there is also a threshold value, which can be set by an operator and which represents the difference between the quantity and/or the weight of the fodder dispensed to and consumed by the animal during the feeding period. When this threshold value is exceeded, the computer outputs a signal. An operator can then be notified by means of a (non-shown) attention list print-out of the computer that one or more animals show deviations in the fodder consumption. In addition, a second threshold value may have been stored in the computer, which value implies that the said first threshold value has been exceeded by a predetermined percentage. If the second threshold value is exceeded, the relevant animal is automatically isolated by means of a (non-shown) computer-controlled gate in a (non-shown) separate section. To stimulate the consumption rate of the fodder, e.g. with highly productive animals, which must take in much fodder in a relatively short period of time, the electric motor 36 of the grinding device 31 is energized with the aid of the computer, so that fodder delivered by the blade wheel 29 to the grinding device 31 is ground. The fodder, ground or not ground, can optionally be moistened by means of the computer-controlled spraying device 20 so as to increase in this manner the rate of consumption still further. As the number of revolutions of the electric motor 36 driving the blade wheel 29 is variable, it is possible to effect a very accurate, optionally continuous metering of the fodder in the feeding trough 15. In addition, a computer-controlled drinking bowl, such as the drinking bowl 19, may be placed in or at the milking/feeding box 1, with the aid of which liquid, such as water and/or milk, can be supplied depending on the animal (Figure 1). Furthermore, the liquid and/or (concentrated) fodder can preferably be supplied during the anticipated milking period and/or pre-treatment period and/or after-treatment period. Thus, it is possible to adapt the feeding and/or drinking period when it is found that the teat cups 9 cannot be fitted on the teats of an animal in the anticipated period of time, or when the animal kicks off one or more teat cups and the milking cluster is to be connected again.

Claims: A construction including an implement for milking animals, such as cows, equipped with a milking robot (6), said implement for milking animals comprising a feeding implement having a feeding trough (15) for receiving a quantity of fodder, characterized in that the feeding implement comprises means for adding a liquid, such as water, to the fodder. A construction as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the means for adding the liquid comprise a computer-controlled valve and/or a spraying device (20). A construction as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the spraying device (20) is arranged near the feeding trough (15). A construction as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, said construction comprising a milking box (1), characterized in that the milking box (1) comprises a drinking bowl (19), in which, depending on an animal, a quantity of liquid, such as water and/or milk, can be supplied. A construction as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that the liquid is supplied together with concentrate. A construction as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the duration of the feeding period is controllable. A construction as claimed in any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that the liquid is supplied during the anticipated milking period and/or pre-treatment period and/or after-treatment period.

Inventors: VAN DEN BERG KAREL, VAN DER LELY CORNELIS, VAN DEN BERG, KAREL, VAN DER LELY, CORNELIS
Applicants: MAASLAND NV, MAASLAND N.V.
Application year: 1995
Main classification: A01J5
IPC codes: A01K5, A01J5