JP2011217684A - Milking system using milking bucket and milking method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a milking system which can prevent the generation of noises, when the connection portion of a vacuum tube is detached from a milk-collecting piping after the finish of milking and can reduce troubles such as the detachment of the lid of a milking bucket when carried.SOLUTION: The milking system is characterized by disposing a vacuum source, the milking bucket B, a milking unit connected to the milking bucket B and having a milk route-blocking mechanism capable of being manually opened or closed, a vacuum-introducing means which is connected to the vacuum source and introduces a vacuum pressure to the upper portion of the milking bucket B, and a pulsator P which receives the distribution of the vacuum pressure from the vacuum source, produces a pulsed vacuum pressure and supplies the pulsed vacuum pressure to the milking unit, and further disposing a check valve opened to the vacuum source side in the vacuum-introducing means.

Description

  The present invention relates to an improvement of a milking system and a milking method using a milking bucket.

  The milking bucket is a transportable container for temporarily storing milk after milking, and is used as a simple milking system (bucket milker) together with a milking unit such as a milk claw and vacuum introduction means. In a barn that uses a vacuum-pumped milking machine, the above milking system can be configured by connecting the vacuum line of the barn to the top of the milking bucket. It is widely used to manage colostrum secreted from cattle independently of shipable raw milk.

  In a widely used vacuum pipe type milking machine, a vacuum pipe supplied with a vacuum pressure from a vacuum pump is arranged in a barn, and a tap is provided at a location adjacent to the cow bed. For normal milking, a portable milking unit including a milk claw, teat cup, and pulsator is connected to the tap, vacuum pressure is supplied to the milk claw and pulsator, and the squeezed raw milk is fed into the barn via a vacuum pipe. Collect in receiver jar. In another improved vacuum piping type milking machine, there are two types of piping: vacuum piping and milk collection piping that are individually adjusted by vacuum pressure adjusting means so that the vacuum pressure for milking sent to the pulsator does not change with the amount of milk delivered The vacuum pressure for milking is supplied to the pulsator from the vacuum pipe, and the squeezed raw milk is collected in the receiver jar by the vacuum pressure for feeding supplied from the milk collection pipe. Any piping may be used as a vacuum source for the milking bucket.

  FIG. 5 is an example of a milking system (bucket milker) that uses a vacuum piping type milking machine and a milking bucket in combination. Two types of pipes, a vacuum pipe V and a milk collection pipe M, are arranged in the upper part of the barn, and a tap T having functions of vacuum supply and milk collection is provided adjacent to each cow bed A. The milking bucket B is a substantially cylindrical stainless steel or plastic container with a mouth squeezed, a handle H for transportation is provided at the top, and a connection structure for connecting to an external device at the mouth A removable lid L is provided. When the connector C is connected to the tap T, vacuum pressure is supplied from the milk collection pipe M to the inside of the milking bucket B. The raw milk inlet provided in the lid L is connected to the milk claw c of the milking unit U via the raw milk tube m, and a part of the vacuum pressure in the milking bucket B is applied to the pulsator P installed at the upper part of the lid L. The pulsating vacuum pressure for milking is supplied to the teat cup t of the milking unit U. The inside of the teat cup t is divided into a milky way and a surrounding space by a flexible liner (not shown), and when the pulsating vacuum pressure is supplied to the surrounding space, the liner is operated and milking is performed. The raw milk squeezed by the teat cup t is sucked into the milking bucket B by the vacuum claw via the milk claw c and stored in the milking bucket B.

  FIG. 2 is an example of a milk claw c used in this bucket mill. Four milk inlets 51 communicating with the teat cup are provided in the upper part of the milk claw body 50, and a milk outlet 52 communicating with the milking bucket B is provided in the lower part. A connection mechanism for relaying the pulsating vacuum pressure is also provided in the upper part, but the description is omitted.

  The raw milk outlet 52 is further provided with a switching valve 6 that can be manually switched from the outside of the milk claw as a milk passage blocking mechanism. The structure of the switching valve 6 is such that a valve seat 62 that fits with a hemispherical resin valve body 61 is provided inside the raw milk outlet 52, and a connecting rod 63 is fixed to the valve body 61 at one end and penetrates the valve seat. The other end is fixed to a disk-shaped resin operation portion 64 outside the milk claw. The operation unit 64 is held at either the upper position for opening the valve or the lower position for closing the switching valve, with the edge held between the corresponding claw portions 65 of the milk claw. The operator manually opens and closes the raw milk outlet 52 of the milk claw by manually deforming and moving the operation unit 64 up and down. Therefore, after milking is completed, before the teat cup is removed, the switching path 6 is used to block the milk passage, thereby preventing air from flowing into the milking bucket B from the mouth of the teat cup and consuming vacuum pressure. it can.

  In order to perform milking using this milking system, a milking bucket B is installed near the cow bed A, and a teat cup t of the milking unit U is connected to each teat of the cow. And if the connector C is connected to the connection port T provided in the predetermined location of the milk collection pipe M, the inside of the milking bucket B will become a vacuum pressure, and each teat cup t of the milking unit U from the pulsator P will be used for milking. The vacuum pressure is supplied, milking starts, and the raw milk inside is sent to the milking bucket body B by opening the switching valve of the milk claw c. The operator confirms the end of lactation while observing the amount of milk in the milking bucket B, closes the switching valve of the milk claw c, shuts off the vacuum pressure from the milking bucket, removes the teat cup t from the teat, and finally the connector C is removed from the connection port T, and the milking operation is completed. To prevent vacuum pressure consumption, the opening of the tap T is automatically closed when the connector C is removed.

  In milking with a bucket milker, a switching valve is provided in the milk claw in order to prevent the waste of vacuum, and after the teat cup is removed from the teat, the inside of the milking bucket is kept at a negative pressure. However, in the conventional milking bucket connection structure, there is a problem that when the milk tap of the vacuum side milk tube is removed from the milk collection pipe after the milking is finished, the atmosphere flows into the milking bucket and the milk tube at once and noise is generated. It was. Because the milk tap is in the immediate vicinity of the dairy cow, this sound surprises the cow and breaks it, damaging the milking equipment and causing dairy cow stress. In addition, useless noise is not pleasant for the operator himself. Then, this invention sets it as the 1st objective to provide the milking system which prevents generation | occurrence | production of the noise at the time of removing a milk tap from milk collection piping after completion | finish of milking.

  In addition, after removing the tap, the airtightness in the milking bucket decreases due to the inflow of air, and the force to hold the bucket lid weakens, so it will come off if it falls during transport or if the cow kicks the bucket. There was a hygiene problem. This invention makes it the 2nd objective to provide the milking system which can reduce the accident where a lid | cover comes off after milking.

  The invention described in claim 1 includes a vacuum source, a milking bucket, a milking unit that is connected to the milking bucket and can be manually opened and closed, and a milking unit that is connected to the vacuum source and used for the milking. A vacuum introducing means for introducing a vacuum pressure into the bucket; and a pulsator for receiving a distribution of the vacuum pressure from the vacuum source to generate a pulsating vacuum pressure and supplying the pulsating vacuum pressure to the milking unit. The above problem is solved by a milking system including a check valve that opens.

  The vacuum introducing means according to the present invention includes a check valve that opens toward the vacuum source side. This check valve allows air to go to the vacuum source side and shuts off air to the milking bucket side. During milking, the valve opens and passes vacuum, and when the connection (connector) is removed from the tap, To prevent air from flowing in the direction of the milking bucket. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a loud sound from being generated due to a sudden inflow of air when the connecting portion is removed from the tap after milking. In addition, by maintaining the negative pressure in the milking bucket, the holding power of the lid can be maintained, and accidents where the lid is removed can be reduced.

  The vacuum introducing means includes, for example, a vacuum tube connected to the lid portion of the milking bucket, a connector connected to the other end of the vacuum tube, and a check valve disposed in these paths. During milking, the vacuum tube may move unexpectedly due to fluctuations in the vacuum pressure and damage the check valve. Therefore, the check valve is preferably mounted near the connecting portion or the milking bucket.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the milking system according to the first aspect, the pulsator is integrally provided on a lid of the milking bucket. Even when the pulsator is provided integrally with the lid of the milking bucket, the same noise preventing action and vacuum holding action can be realized by adding a check valve to the vacuum introducing means.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the milking system according to the first or second aspect, the check valve is provided in the vicinity of a connection portion where the vacuum introducing means is connected to the vacuum source. By providing the check valve in the vicinity of the connecting portion, there is no fear of generating noise due to the vacuum pressure remaining in the vacuum tube, and a lot of vacuum is left, which is advantageous in terms of holding power of the lid.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the milking system according to the first or second aspect, the check valve is provided in the vicinity of the milking bucket. Since the check valve is provided in the vicinity of the milking bucket, the check valve is less likely to fall, which is advantageous in terms of hygiene.

  In addition, an extension member that reaches the vicinity of the bottom of the milking bucket is attached to the opening of the vacuum introducing means inside the milking bucket, and the tip of the teat cup is submerged in a cleaning tank in which the cleaning liquid is stored. An automatic cleaning system is known that forms a cleaning circuit including a bucket and vacuum piping and circulates cleaning liquid using a pump of a vacuum piping type milking machine. Also in the arranged milking system, the check valve does not interfere with the flow of the cleaning liquid, and automatic cleaning can be performed in the same procedure, whereby the inside of the check valve is also automatically cleaned.

The invention described in claim 5 has a vacuum source, a milking bucket, a milking unit having a manually opened and closed milkway blocking mechanism, and a function of introducing vacuum pressure from the vacuum source to the milking bucket. And a method of milking using a vacuum introducing means having a check valve that opens only to the vacuum source side, and a pulsator that receives a distribution of vacuum pressure from the vacuum source and supplies a pulsating vacuum pressure to a milking unit, At least the next step (1) the step of attaching the teat cup of the milking unit to the teat of the cow,
(2) connecting the vacuum introducing means to a vacuum source and introducing a vacuum pressure into the milking bucket;
(3) After confirming the end of lactation, the step of blocking the milk passage by the milk passage blocking mechanism of the milking unit;
(4) removing the teat cup of the milking unit from the teat;
(5) The above problem is solved by a milking method comprising a step of removing the vacuum introducing means from the vacuum source.

  Since the inflow of raw milk and air from the milking unit is blocked in step (3), the inside of the milking bucket is maintained at a vacuum pressure even when the teat cup is removed. However, since a check valve that opens toward the vacuum source side is disposed in the vacuum introduction means, there is no inflow of air to the milking bucket side even if the vacuum introduction means is removed from the vacuum source in step (5). Noise generation is prevented. Moreover, since the negative pressure in the milking bucket is maintained during transportation, the holding force of the bucket lid is not lost, and there is little risk of contamination due to dropping off.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows an example of a milking system according to the present invention. As in FIG. 5, two types of pipes, a vacuum pipe V and a milk collection pipe M, are arranged in the upper part of the barn, and a tap T having functions of vacuum supply and milk collection is adjacent to each cow bed A. Is provided. The milking bucket B is a substantially cylindrical stainless steel or plastic container with a mouth squeezed, a handle H for transportation is provided at the top, and a connection structure for connecting to an external device at the mouth A removable lid L is provided. A vacuum tube v is connected to the upper end of the pipe member that penetrates the lid L, and the other end of the vacuum tube v communicates with the connector C to constitute a vacuum introducing means. The raw milk inlet provided in the lid L is connected to the raw milk outlet of the milk claw c of the milking unit U through a raw milk tube m. An electromagnetic pulsator P that receives the distribution of the vacuum pressure from the milking bucket B and supplies the pulsating vacuum pressure is installed on the top of the lid L. Further, between the vacuum tube v and the connector C, a check valve assembly 1 having a valve body that opens only in one direction toward the connector C side is disposed.

  When the connector C is connected to the tap T, vacuum pressure is supplied from the milk collection pipe M to the inside of the milking bucket B, a part of which is distributed to the pulsator P, and the pulsating vacuum pressure for milking is the teat cup of the milking unit U. to t. The inside of the teat cup t is divided into a milky way and a surrounding space by a flexible liner (not shown), and when the pulsating vacuum pressure is supplied to the surrounding space, the liner is operated and milking is performed. The raw milk squeezed by the teat cup t is sucked into the milking bucket B by the vacuum claw via the milk claw c and stored in the milking bucket B.

  The milk claw blocking mechanism of the milk claw c of the present embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, and will be described using the same reference numerals. In the upper part of the milk claw body 50, four raw milk inlets 51 communicating with the teat cup A raw milk outlet 52 communicating with the milking bucket B is provided at the lower part. The raw milk outlet 52 is provided with a switching valve 6 that can be manually switched from outside the milk claw as a milk passage blocking mechanism. The structure of the switching valve 6 is such that a valve seat 62 that fits with a hemispherical resin valve body 61 is provided at the inner opening of the raw milk outlet 52, and one end of the connecting rod 63 is fixed to the valve body 61. The other end is fixed to a disc-like elastic resin operation portion 64 outside the milk claw. The operation unit 64 is held at either the upper position for opening the valve or the lower position for closing the switching valve, with the edge held between the corresponding claw portions 65 of the milk claw. The operator can open and close the raw milk outlet 52 of the milk claw by manually deforming the operation unit 64 and moving it up and down.

  After confirming the end of lactation while observing the flow of milk and the amount of stored milk, the operator pushes up the operation part 64 of the switching valve 6 of the milk claw c to shut off the milk passage, and the influence of the vacuum pressure of the milking bucket B Remove the teat cups t from the nipples. Thereafter, the operator removes the connector C from the tap T and ends the milking operation. At this time, the check valve 1 blocks the inlet of the vacuum tube v and prevents the atmosphere from flowing into the milking bucket B, so that the generation of noise from the connector C is prevented. Thereafter, the necessary post-processing is performed on the raw milk stored in the milking bucket B, but the negative pressure inside the bucket is maintained until the operator removes the lid L. An accident in which the lid L is removed by kicking down is prevented.

  3 and 4 show the appearance of the check valve assembly 1 according to this embodiment during assembly and disassembly. The check valve assembly 1 includes a valve body 101, a first nipple 102, a second nipple 103, and a reducer nut 104. The valve body 101 is a substantially cylindrical member molded from rubber, and a partition wall for closing the pipeline is provided on an inner surface (not shown), and by opening a part of the partition wall to the inside of the first nipple 102, The fluid can be flowed to only one side. The first and second nipples are substantially cylindrical members formed from hard plastic, and the first nipple 102 has an enlarged diameter portion 102a on the side adjacent to the valve body 101, and an annular protrusion around the opening. 102b is provided. The second nipple 103 has a threaded portion 103 a that is expanded in diameter on the side adjacent to the valve body 101. The reducer nut 104 is a cylindrical member formed of hard plastic, and has an inner diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the annular protrusion 102b and the screwing portion 103a on the inner surface, and the screwing portion 103a. A groove 104b corresponding to the thread is provided. The outer surface is provided with an uneven portion 104c for easy grasping.

  In order to assemble the check valve assembly 1, as shown in FIG. 4, the valve body 101 is disposed between the first nipple 102 and the second nipple 103 so that the respective end faces come into contact or fit with each other, and the reducer nut 104 is expanded. By fitting the diameter portion 104 a from the first nipple 102 side, grasping the concave and convex portion 104 c and rotating it with respect to the second nipple 103, the groove portion 104 b on the inner surface is screwed into the threaded portion 103 a of the second nipple 103. And fix. The check valve assembly 1 can be easily added to an existing milking system by connecting the vacuum tube so that the first nipple 102 is on the vacuum source side and the second nipple 103 is on the milking bucket side. . The check valve assembly 1 should be mounted at a position within 10 cm from the connector c, for example, because it is necessary to adjust the length of the tube so that the vacuum tube v does not break down or damage the milking bucket B. Is preferred.

  At the bottom opening of the pipe member inside the milking bucket B, an extension member that reaches the bottom of the milking bucket is attached, and the tip of the teat cup t is submerged in a cleaning tank (not shown) that stores the cleaning liquid. By connecting to the tap T, a cleaning circuit including the milking unit U, the milking bucket B, the vacuum tube v, and the milk collection pipe M is formed, and the cleaning liquid is circulated using the pump of the vacuum pipe type milking machine. Automatic cleaning can be performed including check valves.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and the configuration, shape, material, quantity, method, etc., of details are arbitrarily changed, added, or deleted without departing from the gist of the present invention. be able to. For example, the vacuum source may be other than a milk collection pipe in a cowshed. The check valve may have a different configuration, and the position where the check valve is disposed may not be near the connector but near the milking bucket, or may be provided integrally with the connector or the milking bucket. .

  In the present invention, noise can be prevented at the time of connector removal and inadvertent drop off of the lid only by adding a check valve to the conventional bucket mill car, which is of great significance.

1 is an overall view of a milking system according to the present invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the structure of the milky way block mechanism of a milk claw. It is a side view which shows the state which assembled the check valve which concerns on an Example. It is a side view which shows the state which decomposed | disassembled the non-return valve which concerns on an Example. It is a general view of the conventional milking system using the bucket for milking.

A Cowbed B Milking bucket C Connector H Handle L Lid M Milk collection piping P Pulsator T Tap V Vacuum piping

c Milk Claw m Raw Milk Tube v Vacuum Tube t Teat Cup

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Check valve assembly 101 Valve body 102 1st nipple 102a Large diameter part 102b Annular protrusion 103 2nd nipple 103a Screw part 104 Reducer nut 104a Wide diameter part 104b Groove part 104c Uneven part

50 Milk Claw Body 51 Raw Milk Entrance 52 Raw Milk Exit

61 Valve body 62 Valve seat 63 Connection rod 64 Operation part 65 Claw part

Claims (5)

  A vacuum source, a milking bucket, a milking unit that is connected to the milking bucket and includes a milk passage blocking mechanism that can be manually opened and closed, and a vacuum that is connected to the vacuum source and introduces a vacuum pressure into the milking bucket Introducing means and a pulsator for receiving a distribution of vacuum pressure from the vacuum source to generate a pulsating vacuum pressure and supplying the pulsating vacuum pressure to the milking unit. The vacuum introducing means further comprises a check valve that opens only to the vacuum source side. A milking system characterized by that.   The milking system according to claim 1, wherein the pulsator is integrally provided on a lid of the milking bucket.   The milking system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the check valve is provided in the vicinity of a connection portion where the vacuum introduction means is connected to the vacuum source.   The milking system according to claim 1, wherein the check valve is provided in the vicinity of the milking bucket. A milking unit equipped with a vacuum source, a milking bucket, a milkway blocking mechanism that can be manually opened and closed, and a function of introducing a vacuum pressure from the vacuum source to the milking bucket and opening only to the vacuum source side A method of milking using a vacuum introducing means having a stop valve and a pulsator that receives a distribution of vacuum pressure from the vacuum source and supplies a pulsating vacuum pressure to a milking unit, comprising at least the following steps (1) Milking The process of attaching the unit's teat cup to the cow's teat,
(2) connecting the vacuum introducing means to a vacuum source and introducing a vacuum pressure into the milking bucket;
(3) After confirming the end of lactation, the step of blocking the milk passage by the milk passage blocking mechanism of the milking unit;
(4) removing the teat cup of the milking unit from the teat;
(5) A milking method comprising a step of removing the vacuum introduction means from the vacuum source.

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