Milking Parlor for the Forward Straight Line Animal Ambulation and Individual Presentation of an Animal to be Milked in a Milking Stall Located Intermediate a Holding Area and a Release Area

Abstract

A milking parlor has a holding gate and a parallel spaced individually loaded-occupied-unloaded milking stall with an operator pit located intermediate the holding gate and the milking stall. The operator pit can be recessed from the holding gate and the milking stall, wherein a bridge or a bridge cart selectively connects a holding gate to an unoccupied milking stall. A robotic or human operator can function from the operator pit to implement the milking process.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 196,789, filed Jul. 17, 2002, of the same title, and expressly incorporated by reference.STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT [0002] Not applicable. REFERENCE TO A “SEQUENCE LISTING”[0003] Not applicable. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0004] 1. Field of the Invention [0005] The present invention relates to the presentation of an animal to be milked in a milking parlor, and more particularly, to the straight line forward loading and forward unloading of an animal to be milked in a milking stall. [0006] 2. Description of Related Art [0007] A milking parlor generally includes an array of individual milking stalls, each milking stall being designed to hold a cow or other dairy animal while being milked. Typically, an operator or milking robot is required to perform such tasks as insuring that the animals are properly situated in the milking stalls...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present patent describes a milking parlor that allows for individual sequencing of animals to be milked. The parlor includes a holding gate, a milking stall with a front and rear gate, and a plurality of holding gates and milking stalls that can be arranged in different configurations. The technical effect of this invention is that it allows for efficient and effective milking of animals, with improved animal comfort and reduced labor costs."

Problems solved by technology

As with any system, there are efficiency benefits and drawbacks to the pipeline milking system.

However, the pipeline system induces significant operator fatigue.

There is also considerable freedom for the cow to move around within the stall, which results in milking units being kicked off or stepped on.

Further, there is little to protect the operator from being kicked or stepped on.

As each stall requires a corresponding stall cock, a large number of stall cocks are employed and any percentage of failure or leakage results in required maintenance.

Further, some portions of the milk line may be soiled by milk and not cleaned for hours, as the milking process has moved to another part of the barn.

Also, the relatively long pipe lengths cause hot washing water to cool very quickly.

Thus, a stable vacuum at the cow teats is very difficult to achieve.

Although automation devices such as milk meters and automatic take offs have inherent individual benefits, it is difficult to implement these devices, as they must be carried from cow to cow and secured to each stall.

This closer confinement reduces freedom of movement of the cow and results in less kick off of the milking unit.

However, as this herringbone parlor is a batch processing, when the first cow is finished milking it must wait until all the cows in the batch are finished before the cow can leave.

Therefore, inefficiencies are encountered as milked cows in a batch cannot be replaced until the last cow in the batch has been processed.

This long spacing between milking units causes the tandem parlor to have a long walking distance for both animals and operators.

It is difficult to attach the milking unit from behind in between two rear legs of the cow.

The operator can be easily soiled or wetted by the cow.

However, the operator walking distance in a flat barn parlor is longer than other parlor arrangements of equal capacity.

The flat barn parlor induces operator fatigue from the long walking distance and the need to either bend or squat to access the udder or climb in and out of individual recessed operator pits.

However, there is no provision for releasing a cow as soon as the cow is finished and replacing the then empty milking stall with a fresh cow.

However, the rotation of the rotary parlor requires a multitude of moving parts and enhanced complexity to install and service.

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