PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC MILKING OF SHEEP AND GOATS

Abstract: A process of milking sheep, goats, and small ruminants in general, by means of an apparatus (1) comprising a milking unit (2), a manifold (3), a pulser (4) and means (5, 13) of connection to a vacuum source (12), comprises a step in which the milking unit is automatically removed from the animal teats after a pre-set milking time, and a step in which the apparatus is idle, the milking unit and the manifold being at atmospheric pressure during removal and idle steps.

Description: "PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC MILKING OF SHEEP AND GOATS" FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a process and an apparatus for automated milking of sheep and goats and small ruminants in general. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Known milking devices include a vacuum source, a milking unit provided with milking tubes to be attached to the animals' teats, a pulser, and a milk manifold. In general, the apparatus is connected to a series of pipes that form a vacuum circuit (connected to a vacuum pump) and a circuit for the milk. The milking tubes are made of a rigid material and contain an internal sheath, or teat cup, made of rubber or of a similar flexible material, which creates a leak-tight gap or interspace between sheath and tube. The interior of the teat cup is always connected to the vacuum, while the gap or interspace is always connected to the pulser. Thus, the gap is alternately connected to the vacuum circuit and the atmosphere, so as to have the teat perform the required milking action. To milk sheep and goats, manually-controlled devices are currently used. In practice, the operator manually attaches and detaches the milking tubes to the animals' teats. While milking, attaching, or detaching operations are under way, the pulser is operated. Current sheep- and goat-milking techniques have a number of drawbacks. In the first place, they are quite time-consuming: the average time needed to milk 180 animals is roughly one hour and 45 minutes and two people are required. Furthermore, the task of attaching and detaching the milking tubes must be performed as delicately as possible, in order to avoid straining or injuring the animals' udders and teats and causing mastitis. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the aim of the present invention to resolve the above described problems and to provide a milking apparatus for sheep, goats, and small ruminants in general, which reduces milking time and avoids harming the animals' udders and teats. This aim has been achieved with the present invention, which relates to a process of milking sheep, goats, and small ruminants in general, by means of an apparatus comprising a milking unit, a manifold, a pulser and means of connection to a vacuum source, characterized in that it comprises a step in which said milking unit is automatically removed and a step in which said apparatus is idle, said milking unit and said manifold being kept at atmospheric pressure during said steps. Preferably automatic removal is done by pre-setting the amount of time that the pulser will be operated, then bringing the milking unit and manifold to atmospheric pressure level after the pulser is deactivated, and then removing the milking unit; that is, detaching the tubes from the animal's teats only after the milking unit has been brought to atmospheric pressure level. Furthermore, the invention relates an apparatus for milking sheep, goats, and small ruminants in general, including a milking unit to be connected to the animal teats, a manifold, a pulser, and means of connecting same to a vacuum source, characterized in that it further comprises: a means of activating said pulser for a pre-set amount of time; a means of connecting said milking unit and said manifold to said vacuum source and to the atmosphere; and a means of automatically removing said milking unit from said teats. Preferably the apparatus includes three timers to regulate the operation time of the pulser, the removal mechanism, and the connection means between the vacuum and the collector manifold. In a preferred embodiment, the means of automatically removing the milking unit comprises a saddle that is moveable between an idle position and a working position, and a pivot that rotates as the saddle is moved. Manifold and milking unit are mounted on this pivot and they are rotated and moved simultaneously. The milking unit normally includes only two milking tubes. Another object of the invention is a milking plant comprising a plurality of apparatuses according to the invention. The invention has a number of advantages over the state of the art. Milking time is drastically reduced: to milk 180 animals using the process and apparatus of the invention, it takes about 55-60 minutes, whereas traditional milking takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes. Moreover, only one operator is required. Another advantage is that the milking unit tubes are gently brought to atmospheric pressure before they are detached from the animal's teats; in this way, the animal's udder is unharmed and the risk of mastitis is greatly reduced. Furthermore, once milking of one animal is completed, the relevant pulsing and vacuum are shut off, and this for each single animal. This results in energy savings as well as in less powerful machines for vacuum and electricity, with resulting money savings when the basic system is purchased. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The invention will now be described in greater detail, with reference to the enclosed non-limiting drawings, where: - Fig.l is a diagram of the apparatus according to the invention; - Fig.2 is a diagram that shows the position of the timers with respect to some of the parts of the apparatus; - Fig.3 is a perspective view of the milking tube removal mechanism according to the invention; - Figs. 4 and 5 are schematic sectional and local views of the mechanism described in Fig.3; - Fig.6 is a plan view of a construction detail of the mechanism described above;and - Fig.7 is a front view of the mechanism described in Figs. 4 and 5. Fig.l schematically shows an apparatus 1 , according to the invention, comprising milking unit 2, collector manifold 3, a duct 5 for connection to vacuum source 12 (Fig.2), and duct 6 for the milk. Manifold 3 is of a type known in milking technology, preferably a horizontal type, and is connected to two milking tubes 7 by means of semi-rigid tubing 8 - that is, a tubing which allows the milking tubes 7 to move freely, but which sustains them at the same time. Manifold 3 is also provided with valve 22, that is a valve normally open to allow a reduced amount of air to enter the manifold when this is connected to vacuum source 12 and is at a reduced pressure, the purpose of valve 22 is to enable the milk sucked through ducts 8 into manifold 3 to further flow into milk duct 6. Manifold 3 is mounted on a saddle 9 that moves axially from an idle position to a working, or milking, position. More specifically, the manifold is engaged with pivot 10, that is rotatable (Figs.3-5) with disk 11. As shown in Fig.2, the invention apparatus comprises pulser 4 connected to manifold 3 and milking unit 2, to operate the teats, or sheaths, within tubes 7. Every apparatus will have its own pulser. Pulser 4 is coupled with first timer T1 , that activates the pulser for a pre-set amount of time: said time is normally calculated in relation to the type of animals to be milked. For instance: for sheep, an effective milking time of 60 seconds is considered appropriate; the time that will be set with the timer, however, is longer - approximately 150 seconds - in order to take into account the down-time required to manually attach the milking tubes 7 to the sheep's teats. Furthermore, there are also provided means of controlling the connection between manifold 3 and vacuum source 12: namely, solenoid valve 13 and timer T3 are provided. The solenoid valve is operated through control panel 14 (Fig.l ) and, as is explained in greater detail below, through timer T3, in one of the steps of the invention process. Control panel 14 also provides means 14a to cut out, on request, timer Tl to operate in totally manual mode. This option is used when the animals to be milked have udder problems and require a personalized milking. Figures 3 to 6 show, in greater detail, the removal mechanism, which comprises sliding saddle 9 mounted on a base 15. Saddle 15 is movable in the direction of arrow FI , by means of pneumatic piston 16, from an idle position (Fig.4) to a working position (Fig.5). As shown, the idle position is corresponding to the position obtained once the piston has been activated. Piston 16 is operated by feeding air into cylinder 17 through line 17a, which is extending to control panel 14 (Fig.l ). Air flow through line 17a to cylinder 17 is controlled by solenoid valve 9a. Elastic means, known per se in the art, are provided to move piston 16 back to the position shown in Fig.5 once the air sent to the cylinder is cut off. The position of fig. 5 is the working position of the milking unit. Preferably, saddle 9 is manually movable from the position shown in Fig.4 to the position shown in Fig.5. As mentioned above, the manifold (and, therefore, the milking unit) are supported by and engaged with pivot 10, that is mounted on a disk 1 1 which revolves as it follows the traverse movement of saddle 9. In the disclosed embodiment, Figs. 6 and 7, pivot 10 is mounted integral with a disk made of two pieces fixed to each other and sitting on bearings 19. Pivot 10 extends through rotating disk 1 1 and engages second disk 18, which has a second pivot 20; the end portion of pivot 20 is housed in race 21. The race 21 has a mixed line movement (Fig.6), with an inflexion point, so as to cause second pivot 20 to shift during the translation of the saddle and the consequent rotation of disk 18, pivot 10 and disk 1 1. The rotation angle is 90°. In particular, when in the idle position, the milking unit is retracted in relation to the milking point, and rotated 90° to the A-A center line of the saddle. When saddle 9 is moved forward towards the milking point (the working position), pivot 10 rotates together with milking unit 2, which is then aligned with the saddle's center line. As they return to the idle position (Fig.4), milking unit 2 and pivot 10 are rotated in the opposite direction. Alternatively, disk 1 1 and pivot 10 can be rotated with other systems used in existing technology: using racks, for example. As mentioned above, the process according to the present invention provides for interrupting the operation of the pulser and returning milking unit 2 and manifold 3 to the atmospheric pressure level; after these operations, the saddle 9 is moved, removing the milking unit, whose tubes have by this time detached from the milked animal's teats, to bring the milking unit to α rotated position, retracted with respect to the milking point. Effective milking is stopped when the desired milking time that has been pre-set on the timer (Tl ) has lapsed. This contrasts with known art, where effective milking stops when milk flow through the relative line (duct 8, for example) has ceased. During the idle step, i.e. the non-milking step, the apparatus is in the following condition: the pulser 4 is switched off, the air solenoid valve (that is, the valve that feeds air to cylinder 15) is on and has moved piston 16 to its protruding position (fig.4). Piston 16 has shifted the saddle into a position retracted from the milking point, with the milking unit 2 rotated approximately 90°. The vacuum solenoid valve 13 is off and manifold 3 and milking unit 2 are at atmospheric pressure. When the milking step is started, by pushing the relevant button on control panel 14, the following operations are activated simultaneously. Pulser 4 and timer Tl are switched on; Tl controls the effective operating time of the pulser and, usually, the timer is pre-set to have the pulser operate for a longer time than the effective milking time, in order to cover the time required to attach (manually) the milking tubes 7 to the animals' teats. Air solenoid valve 9a is deactivated, thereby moving saddle 9 and the milking group to the working position. The vacuum solenoid valve (13) is now activated and the operator attaches milking tubes 7 to the teats of the animal thas is to be milked. Then, the apparatus carries out milking operations for the pre-set amount of time as controlled by timer Tl ; that is, until the pulser is stopped. When timer Tl switches off, the pulser stops and vacuum solenoid valve 13 is deactivated. At this point, the manifold 3 is gradually brought to atmospheric pressure, by admitting atmospheric air through valve 22 of manifold 3; the main function of this valve is to feed a reduced flow of air to the manifold to enable milk to flow through manifold 3 to duct 6 during the milking step, i.e. when vacuum is applied to the milking unit. To ensure that a gradual removal step is carried out, timer T2 is activated. Timer T2 delays the activation of air solenoid valve 9a long enough (e.g. for 4 seconds) to bring the manifold and the milking unit to atmospheric pressure. At the end of this time interval, the milking group is at atmospheric pressure level and milking tubes 7 have detached from the milked animal's teats. Subsequently, the following operations are performed: the air solenoid valve 9a is activated, thereby moving the milking group to the idle position; the timer T3 is switched on, which activates again vacuum solenoid valve 13 for a short period of time (e.g. 2-4 seconds) in order to remove any remaining milk left in ducts 8 and manifold 3. At this point, the apparatus is once again in the idle step, and remains in said condition until it is applied to a new animal to be milked.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A process of milking sheep, goats, and small ruminants in general, by means of an apparatus (1 ) comprising a milking unit (2), a manifold (3), a pulser (4), and means (5,13) of connection to a vacuum source (12), characterized in comprising a step in which said milking unit (2) is automatically removed and a step in which said apparatus is idle, said milking unit and said manifold (3) being kept at atmospheric pressure during at least part of said steps. 2. A process according to claim 1 , further comprising the following steps: operating said pulser (4) for a pre-set time; disconnecting said milking unit (2) from said vacuum source (12) and bringing it to atmospheric pressure level after said pre-set time of pulser operation; and automatically removing the milking unit (2) from the animal teats after said milking unit has reached atmospheric pressure. 3. A process according to claim 2, wherein said milking unit (2) is gradually brought to atmospheric pressure. 4. A process according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said manifold (3) is temporarily connected to said vacuum source after said milking unit (2) is detached from the teats of said animal. 5. A process according to any previous claim, wherein the length of the pulser (4) operation during said milking step is pre-set depending on the type of the animals to be milked. 6. A process according to any previous claim, wherein said milking unit (2) is mechanically brought near to and removed from said teats. 7. An apparatus for milking sheep, goats, and small ruminants in general, comprising a milking unit (2), a manifold (3), a pulser (4), and means (5,13) of connection to a vacuum source (12), characterized in that it further comprises: means (Tl ) of operating said pulser (4) for a pre-set period of time; means (13,22) of connecting said milking unit (2) and said manifold (3) to said vacuum source (12) and to the atmosphere; and means (9-1 1 ) of automatically removing said milking unit from the teats of the milked animal. 8. An apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a first timer (Tl ) to control the length of the pulser (4) operation step, a second timer (T2) to control the operation of said means (9-1 1 ) of removing said milking unit (2) from the animals' teats, and a third timer (T3) to control the operation of said means (13) of connecting said milking unit (2) to said vacuum source (12). 9. An apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein said means of automatic removal includes a sliding saddle (9) movable between an idle position and a milking position; and means (10,11 ) of attaching and supporting said manifold and milking group to said saddle. 10. An apparatus according to claim 9, further comprising means (18-21) of rotating said means of attachment (10,1 1 ) simultaneously to the translation of said saddle (9). 11. An apparatus according to any claim 7 to 10 wherein said milking unit (2) comprises two milking tubes (7) connected to said manifold (3). 12. An apparatus according to any claim 8 to 1 1 , further comprising means (14a) of disconnecting said first timer (Tl ). 13. An apparatus according to any claim 7 to 12, further comprising valve means (22) to gradually feed air to said manifold (3). 14. A milking plant, characterized in comprising a plurality of apparatuses (1 ) according to any claim 7 to 12.

Inventors: MANDELLI OSVALDO, MANDELLI, OSVALDO
Applicants: AN PA G MECCANICA ITALIANA S R, MANDELLI OSVALDO, AN.PA.G. MECCANICA ITALIANA S.R.L., MANDELLI, OSVALDO
Application year: 1998
Main classification: A01J5
IPC codes: A01J5