Abstract:
An inflation for a milking machine is formed to have an elongate, hollow barrel. The barrel terminates in open upper and lower ends. An elongate reinforcement element comprising a relatively narrow raised rib is molded integrally along an outer surface of the barrel. The raised ribs provide added integrity for the sidewalls of the barrel and greatly improved massage to the teat tissue.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is entitled to the filing date of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/847,077 titled “Teat Cup Inflation” and filed on Sep. 22, 2006. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to teat cup inflations used in teat cup assemblies for milking cows. In particular, the invention relates to an inflation that is a one-piece, molded, elastomeric member having a hollow elongate barrel that has a substantially triangular cross-sectional shape. 
     2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 197 and 198 
     There has been much effort made in the past to provide improved teat cup inflations that massage the teats of a cow and otherwise are designed to be less likely to cause mastitis in the teats of the cows being milked. Attention is directed to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,659,558 and 3,967,587 wherein there is generally specified the inadequacies of the prior art inflations, particularly as to undesirable conditions imposed on the teats of a cow by inflations of the prior art. 
     An improved inflation is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,587 in which the barrel of the inflation has a substantially square cross-sectional shape. At the upper or proximate end of the barrel there is a cylindrical head molded integrally to the barrel. The head has a reversely extending flange that fits over the upper end of the shell of the teat cup assembly. A mouthpart or diaphragm is provided at the upper end of the cylindrical head, with the mouthpart having a central opening for receiving the teat of a cow. 
     The square-shaped inflation was a significant advancement in the art and was used widely by dairies. However, current demands on the management aspects of dairying have resulted in drastically increased milk production as well as improved man-hour efficiencies. The increase in milk production has put greater demands on physiological systems of the dairy cow, milking systems and the design of milking inflations. This puts additional demands on the capacity of milking components, since a milking system that is experiencing excessive fluid flow, increases instability that ultimately can result in an undesirable decrease in milkout performance. It would be highly advantageous to develop alternative inflations having a different cross-sectional shape that would achieve or surpass the performance of the square-shaped inflation of the prior art to meet the demands of the present dairy industry. 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,004, issued on Jan. 9, 1996, teat cup liners, i.e., inflations, are disclosed which are especially designed to provide a differential resistance to inward collapse along the length of the teat receiving region of the barrel of the inflations. The purpose being to allow the inflations to accommodate teats of varying lengths. According to the teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,004, means are provided for creating a differential resistance to inward collapse of the teat receiving region along the length of the teat receiving region. One embodiment of such means which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,004 consists of a plurality of axially extending, circumferentially spaced ribs having a maximum width and a maximum thickness at the uppermost end of the inflation, with both the width and the thickness decreasing or becoming smaller along the length of the rib. There is no suggestion whatsoever or any motivation whatsoever given in U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,004 of ribs having constant or uniform width and/or thickness in the teat receiving region of the barrel, nor is there any suggestion or motivation whatsoever that ribs of constant or uniform width and/or thickness in the teat receiving region of a triangular-shaped inflation would result in any benefit of any kind, let alone the unexpected results achieved in accordance with the present invention. 
     In U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,120, issued Aug. 17, 2004, round teat cup liners, i.e., inflations having a circular cross-sectional shape, are disclosed in which one of three elements are required. First, the thickness of the barrel of the inflation must decrease in size in a direction from the upper end of the inflation to the lower end. Second, elongate ribs are formed in the outer surface of the barrel of the inflation, and the elongate ribs have a thickness extending outwardly from the barrel, with the thickness increasing in size in a direction from the upper end of the inflation to the lower end. Third, that both the elements mentioned in the previous two sentences are present. There is absolutely no suggestion of ribs which are uniform in their thickness, instead, the ribs must increase in their thickness. Further, there is no suggestion of using the ribs on a triangular-shaped inflation, the inflations have a circular cross-section in the teat receiving portion of the barrel. There is no suggestion or any motivation whatsoever given in U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,120 of ribs having constant or uniform thickness in the teat receiving region of the barrel, nor is there any suggestion or motivation whatsoever that ribs of constant or uniform thickness in the teat receiving region of a triangular-shaped inflation would result in any benefit of any kind, let alone the unexpected results achieved in accordance with the present invention. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A principal objective of the invention is to provide a triangular-shaped inflation which achieves rapid, efficient milkout while also reducing and minimizing stress to the tissue of the teats of the cow being milked. 
     A specific objective of the present invention is to provide a triangular-shaped inflation which achieves an improvement in long term health aspects of the teats of the cows being milked due to improvement in the ability of the inflation to exert optimum massage, which will be discussed further hereinafter, during the collapsed phase of the operation of the inflation. 
     Another objective of the present invention is to provide a triangular-shaped inflation that provides improved massaging of the teat of a dairy cow as a result of the improvement in its ability to exert optimum massage on the teats of the cow during the collapse phase of the operation of the inflation. 
     The above objectives are achieved in accordance with the present invention by providing novel, unique improvements in the triangular-shaped inflations of the prior art that unexpectedly produce a significant enhancement in the milking performance while at the same time improve or maintain good teat and udder health of the cows being milked. Triangular-shaped inflations, as are well known in the art, have an elongate, hollow barrel that is substantially triangular in cross-sectional shape. A substantially cylindrical head is molded integrally to the upper end of the triangular-shaped barrel. The head comprises a substantially cylindrical side wall that has a diameter greater than the outer diagonal dimension of the barrel. A mouthpart, a diaphragm-like member, extends across the otherwise open, upper end of the cylindrical side wall. The mouthpart has a central opening that is adapted to accommodate, i.e., receive therethrough, a teat of an animal that is to be milked. A transition section is molded in the head to connect the upper end of the barrel with an inner surface of the cylindrical side wall of the head. 
     In accordance with the present invention, each of the three longitudinal sidewalls of the triangular-shaped inflation has at least one elongate, relatively narrow raised rib molded integrally along the outer surface thereof. Each of the raised ribs has an upper end that is located adjacent to the open upper end of the hollow barrel and a lower end that is located at a position along the longitudinal length of the hollow barrel. The position of the lower end of each of the ribs is located at a distance of between about one-half to three-fourths the total longitudinal length of the hollow barrel from the open upper end of the hollow barrel. Each rib has a predominant portion that has a substantially uniform thickness extending from the outer surface of the barrel in a direction substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the barrel. The predominant portion, i.e., that portion having a substantially uniform thickness, begins at the upper end of the rib, that is, adjacent to the open upper end of the hollow barrel, and the predominant portion extends continuously down the longitudinal length of the barrel by a distance that is at least about one-half the total longitudinal length of the hollow barrel. A less predominant portion of the rib located below the end position of the predominant portion has a thickness that gradually diminishes or tapers in a direction along the longitudinal length of the barrel to the lower end of the rib. This lower, less predominant portion of the rib is tapered simply to facilitate the removal of the inflation from the mold cavity in which the inflation is formed. Otherwise, the less predominant portion of the rib has no function and could be eliminated if means were available or found to achieve removal of the inflation from the mold cavity in which the inflation is molded. 
     The improved triangular-shaped inflation having the raised ribs has been found to result in an unexpected, significant improvement in milking efficiency and performance, while at the same time maintaining good teat and udder health or actually improving the health of the teat and udder. During the collapsed phase of the operation of the inflation when milking a cow, the raised ribs on the triangular-shaped inflation causes the inflation to exert improved pressure on the tissue of the teat that is positioned in the inflation. Normal triangular-shaped inflations have less ability to exert compressive load on a teat. The triangular-shaped inflations having the raised ribs in accordance with the present invention have been found to unexpectedly have excellent, superior ability to exert adequate massage on a teat. As a result greatly improved, beneficial massaging that promotes healthy teats is achieved during the milking. The triangular-shaped inflations having the raised ribs in accordance with the present invention have further been found to be generally superior to prior art inflations as a whole in all respects. Many dairy operators have simply noted that the triangular-shaped inflations having the raised ribs in accordance with the present invention were the best, most efficient, and most healthy teat promoting inflations that they have ever used. 
     Additional objects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken together with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Preferred embodiments of the present invention representing the best mode presently contemplated of carrying out the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is an elevation view of a triangular-shaped inflation incorporating the improvements of the present invention, with the inflation being viewed looking at a substantially flat sidewall of the barrel as shown by line  1 - 1  of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 2  is a horizontal cross section through the inflation of  FIG. 1  taken along line  2 - 2  of  FIG. 3 ; and 
         FIG. 3  is a vertical cross section through the inflation of  FIG. 1  taken along line  3 - 3  of  FIG. 1  showing the rib portion of one sidewall of the inflation in elevation, and  FIG. 3  also shows the transition sections of the inflation between the barrel and the cylindrical head of the inflation and the mouth. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, an improved inflation is provided for a teat cup assembly of a milking machine. The inflation is molded as an integral unit from an elastomeric material. The inflation comprises an elongate, hollow barrel  12  that has a substantially triangular cross-sectional shape and terminates in open upper and lower ends. A substantially cylindrical head  14  is molded integrally to the upper end of the barrel  12 . The head  14  is substantially cylindrical, with the cylindrical sidewall of the head  14  having an inner diameter that is greater than a diameter of a circle drawn through the three apexes of the triangular-shaped barrel  12 . A diaphragm-like mouthpart  20  is positioned across the otherwise open, upper end of the cylindrical sidewall of the head  14 . The mouthpart  20  has a central opening that is adapted to accommodate the teat of an animal to be milked. 
     The cylindrical sidewall of the head  14  is connected to the barrel  12  by a transition section  22  that is molded in the head  14  so as to connect the upper end of the barrel  12  with an inner surface of the cylindrical sidewall of the head  14 . An internal, mouthpiece chamber is formed between the transition section and the mouthpart  20 . The transition section  22  has an outwardly curved surface that curves from the upper end of the barrel  12  and joins the inner surface of the cylindrical sidewall of the head  14 . An elongate, cylindrical, hollow tailpiece  24  extends from the lower end of the barrel  12 . A second transition section  22  has an outwardly curved surface that curves from the lower end of the barrel  12  and joins the inner surface of the triangular sidewall  30  of the barrel  12  to the cylindrical sidewall of the tailpiece  24 . 
     Each of the three longitudinal sidewalls  30  of the hollow barrel  12  has at least one relatively narrow raised rib  32  molded integrally along an outer surface of each of the sidewalls  30 . Each raised rib  32  has an upper end that is located adjacent to the open upper end of the hollow barrel  12 . Each raised rib  32  extends downwardly toward the lower end of the hollow barrel  12 , with each raised rib  32  having a uniform or constant thickness in a radial direction extending away from the outer surface of a respective sidewall  30 . That thickness can be between about 1/16 of an inch and 3/16 of an inch, and preferably about ⅛ of an inch. The width of the raised ribs is preferably uniform or constant, and like the thickness can be between about 1/16 of an inch and 3/16 of an inch, and preferably about ⅛ of an inch. 
     Each raised rib  32  extends downwardly from its upper end to a lower end that is located about 7/16 to about 9/16 way down the longitudinal length of the respective sidewall  30  of the hollow barrel  12 . Preferably, each raised rib  32  extends downwardly to a position about ½ way down the longitudinal length of the respective sidewall  30  of the hollow barrel  12 . A short, tapered terminal end  34  is formed integrally with and extends downwardly from the lower end of each raised rib  32 . The terminal end  34  tapers so that its lower end joins the surface of the respective sidewall  30 . The terminal end  34  has a length such that the lower end of the terminal end  32  will be spaced no more than about ¾ of the longitudinal length of the hollow barrel  12  from the open upper end of the hollow barrel  12 . As mentioned previously, the tapered terminal end  34  is provided simply to facilitate removal of the inflation from the mold cavity in which the inflation is formed. If the inflation is formed without being molded in a mold cavity, or if a mold cavity can be formed which will readily allow release of the ribs  32  and sidewalls  30 , then the terminal end  34  of the ribs  32  can be eliminated. 
     Two or three, spaced apart, raised ribs  32  can be formed on each sidewall  30  if desired, but it has been found that one such rib  32  is sufficient. If multiple ribs are used, they should be spaced relatively close to each other. When a single raised rib  32  is used, it is preferably oriented so as to be substantially parallel to longitudinal side edges of its respective sidewall  30 . It is further advantageous to position the single raised rib  32  in the near vicinity of a longitudinal axis that is substantially equidistant from the longitudinal side edges of its respective sidewall  30 . If two or three raised ribs  32  are formed on each sidewall  30 , they should be oriented so as to be substantially parallel to longitudinal side edges of the respective sidewall  30 , and the group of raised ribs should be located centrally along the sidewall  30  so that the outer ribs of each group are spaced equidistant from the opposed side edges of the respective sidewall  30 .