Patent ID: 8622026

Claim:
A system for monitoring teat cleaning and disinfectant procedures before a milking operation is started, the system comprising: a disinfectant solution source; a hand-held applicator having a housing volume within which one or more brushes are positioned for engaging a teat of the milk-producing animal having been inserted in the volume for cleaning; a pump and conduit in fluid communication with the hand-held applicator and the disinfectant solution source, for delivering a disinfectant solution to the housing volume of the hand-held applicator; a controller, in electrical communication with the hand-held applicator and the pump, that is configured to initiate the actuation of the brushes and delivery of the disinfectant solution to the hand-held applicator as the brushes are actuated; wherein the applicator includes a switch mechanism in electrical communication with the controller and when the switch mechanism is actuated the controller activates the pump to control delivery of the disinfectant solution to the applicator and when released the controller deactivates the pump to discontinue the delivery of the disinfectant solution to the applicator and the controller being configured to control actuation of the brushes to rotate after the switch is released for a predetermined time duration without the disinfectant solution being supplied to the applicator; wherein the controller is further configured to monitor one or more teat cleaning parameters comprising a parameter indicative an amount of time the brushes are actuated for cleaning and drying the teats, a parameter indicative of an amount of time a teat or teats have been inserted in the applicator while the brushes are actuated, a parameter indicative of an amount of the time the disinfectant solution has been applied to the teats of cows in preparation for a milking operation, a parameter indicative of the number teats that are inserted into the housing volume when disinfectant solution is supplied to the applicator after the switch is actuated and/or the number of teats inserted into the volume of the applicator housing after the switch is released and during the predetermined time duration; wherein the controller is further configured to generate data representing the number of animals whose teats have been cleaned in preparation for a milking operation based on one or more of the monitored teat cleaning parameters; and, a database in which the data representing the number of animals whose teats have been cleaned in preparation for a milking operation is stored.