Patent ID: 8671883

Claim:
A method of assuring the quality of milk produced in an automated milking facility comprising: simultaneously collecting milk from all of the teats of an animal being milked to produce a multiplicity of separate streams of collected milk; combining the separate streams of collected milk to produce a current total combined milk flow; using a single milk meter device to measure the current total combined milk flow and generate current data representative of the current total combined milk flow rate of the milk being produced by said animal; saving data from previous milkings of said animal representative of the average relationship between elapsed time subsequent to the initiation of a milking procedure and a normal total combined milk flow rate for said animal, said relationship including a plurality of stepped flow rate reductions in the normal total combined milk flow rate toward the end of the milking procedure; comparing the currently generated data with the saved data in an effort to detect an abnormality in the current total combined milk flow rate, said abnormality comprising an improperly timed or missing stepped reduction in the current total combined milk flow rate; generating an output signal in response to the detection of a said abnormality; and targeting the animal being milked for medical inspection utilizing said output signal.