Improvements in Mechanical Milking Apparatus.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 2nd Aug., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Aug., 1894-Accepted, 29th Sept., 1894
Improvements in Mechanical Milking Apparatus.
I, CARL GUSTAF PATRIK DE LAVAL of 16 Handtverkaregatan, Stockholm,
Sweden, Doctor of Philosophy and Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
It is a fact, that of the many mechanical contrivances for milking which have
been invented, differing in their construction more or less from one another, not
one has found general application, nor has any practical device been made enabling
a large number of cows to be simultaneously milked from one common centre of
power. To attain this latter purpose, I make use of the invention described below
and in order to make the same more fully intelligible, reference is made to the
accompanying drawings, in which—
Figure 1 shews the improved milking apparatus and
Figures 2 to 4 the various positions taken by the milking organs at the beginning
of the milking operation.
All mechanical milking machines have up to the present had to be "set" by
hand before the commencement of the milking and during the operation have
maintained the position once given to them. The teats however do not maintain a
constant position during the operation, for, on the one hand, the udder contracts
during milking, and on the other hand, disturbances resulting from the movement
of the cow must be taken into calculation. With the machines heretofore in use.
the teats are liable to be brought into a position unfavourable to the working parts
of the machine by which regular operation of the teats is impeded. Further the
adjusting by the eye is unsatisfactory as it is not at all certain that the teats
receive the correct position in relation to the operative parts of the milking
machine.
In the present invention, the milking appliances of the machine have this
peculiarity, that they automatically set or adjust themselves during the milking
operation according as may be required by the teats, namely that they automatically
adjust themselves in relation to the teats.
To attain this result, I employ the combination of the following means, namely
(1) The milking appliance is arranged so easily movable relatively to the teat,
that the forces, get erated by the training of the teat during the milking, are able
to adjust said appliance; (20) The necessary resistance or "kick"
against the
drawing operation of the milking appliance on the teat is taken on the base of
the teat; (30) This milking appliance is movable relatively to that part of the
apparatus, offering said resistance or "kick," similarly to that of one leg of a
pair of scissors to the other, thus the force, arising in the teat in an opposite
direction to the milking force, is absorbed by this "kicking" part of the apparatus,
and is thus imited to traverse only the teat of the cow. In apparatus heretofore

page_text: known, which have been placed on the ground or fixed on a frame on the cow, the
said necessary resistance or "kick" has been taken against the ground or against
said frame and the force above mentioned, has thus traversed the whole cow or at
least the udder.
Such an automatic adjustment or "setting" is only made possible by the
employment of the above mentioned combination of means, for when the teat
has once been gripped by the milking appliance it is strained or held tight hetween
this latter and the part of the apparatus, forming the said resistance or kicking,"
and this part is thereby caused to slide up to the base of the teat. During this
movement the milking appliance is removed, owing to its easily movable arrange-
ment above mentioned, in such a manner as to set itself centrally in relation to the
base of the teat.
The construction of the apparatus in other respects as above indicated is
immaterial and does not form the subject matter of this invention. Figure 1
therefore only shews a schematic arrangement and serves only as an example to
render the invention intelligible. aa are the milking rollers. They receive their
motion to and from each other by means of the rod, which engages with one of
the cogged segments formed on the arms or legs bb, while the other end is formed
like a piston g, which moves in a cylinder h. A projection from this piston
comes in contact with a projection on an oscillating disc k. This latter can be
replaced by a rotating eccentric disc. The movement of the rod is maintained in
the other direction by means of spring . The up and down motion of the rollers a
is affected by a rotating disen, which is connected to the cylinder by a link.
The cylinder h oscillates round p on the frame o. The spring endeavours to hold
the cylinder in its upper position. During the movement downwards of the
rollers a the resistance or "kicking" necessary to effect the automatic adjusting or
centering of the apparatus relatively to the teat, is obtained by means of the plate e.
resting against the base of the teat and attached to the frame o of the apparatus by
the arm Plate e is provided with a hole through which the teat is passed
between the rollers a a. It is convenient, that the apparatus is attached to the
animal in such a manner that the plate by means of overweight is pressed against
the udder during the milking.
In order to obtain the said movability of the milking appliance in every direction
and in such a manner, that this appliance adjusts itself automatically to the teat
according to the requirement of this latter, the frame o is movable in a vertical
plane round the point r and laterally round the pivot s on the blok . The
frame together with this block t is moreover movable in a vertical plane round the
point u.
For illustrating the importance of the plate e offering the resistance necessary
and the movable arrangement of the milking appliance, Figures 2, 3 and 4 show
some of the positions taken by the apparatus while the milking appliance is
adjusting or centering itself. Thus Figure 2 shows the relative sition of the
apparatus and the milking appliance at the commencement of the milking. It is
here supposed, that the teat has got an inclined position relatively to the milking
appliance by the passing of the teat through the plate e, that is the teat has not its
proper position in relation to the milking appliance. It is also supposed that the
plate e is not resting against the base of the teat. When putting the apparatus in
motion the rollers grip the end of the teat, and because in this movement there is
no resistance or kicking against the pulling of the teat, offered by the rollers, as
the plate e does not rest against the base of the teat, said plate slides upwarls on
the teat. Figure 3 shows the position of the apparatus, when the plate has
arrived half way up the teat. By comparing Figure 2 with Figure 3, it may be
observed, that the milking appliance is removed a little forwardly owing to the
support against the teat, offered to the plate e by the edge of its hole, through
which the teat passes.
The teat has also been strained a little. In Figure 4 the
plate bas arrived up to the base of the teat and the milking appliance has removed
still more forwards so that the teat hangs centrally in the hole in the plate e.
Now

page_text: the teat is strained completely, and the rollers move then upwards and grip the
teat at the base for performing the milking. It is evident that the teat may alter
its position in any manner, yet the apparatus will follow and restore the proper
position between teat and milking appliance and this result is owing to the employ-
ment of the plate e offering a resistance or "kicking," together with the employment
of the jointed or movable apparatus.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
In a mechanical apparatus, suspended on the cow, the combination with milking
rollers, attached to one of two arms, movable in relation to each other as the legs
of a pair of scissors, of a plate or ring, attached to the other of said arms, and
resting during the milking operation against the base of the teat, offering &
resistance or "kicking to the pull, received on the teat, said arms arranged so
easily movable relatively to the teat, that they may be moved by the force,
resulting from the milking operation, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
"
Dated this 2nd day of August 1901
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.