Patent ID: 7908998

Claim:
A gripper device mountable on a robot arm of a milking robot for automatically attaching teat cups to teats of a milking animal, said gripper device comprising: an electromagnet for gripping the teat cups made of a magnetic material, said electromagnet including a coil feedable with a current and a core of a magnetic material arranged at least partly within said coil; and a support structure for holding said electromagnet, wherein said core includes two end portions in a single face of the electromagnet, the two end portions constituting different poles of the electromagnet; and said two end portions are shaped to be engagable with each of said teat cups in a close fit, wherein: said core has a substantially E-shaped cross section with three parallel legs; said coil surrounds a middle leg of said three parallel legs, and said three parallel lens are all shaped to engage with each of said teat cups in a close fit.