Elastic teat cup liner having an inlet opening of modulated elasticity

Abstract

An elastic teat cup liner (100) or a rubber teat has a top region (120) which has an undulating structure (140) that surrounds the teat insertion opening (150). Peaks (141) and valleys (142) of the undulating structure are different from one another in terms of at least one material property. As a result, the deformation behavior in the region of the teat insertion opening can be improved, so that attachment of the teat cup is simplified while achieving higher adhesive forces and reducing constriction. Furthermore, the undulating structure can serve as a valve in order to reduce vacuum peaks during the milking process.

Description

[0001] Elastic teat cup insert with an inlet opening with modulated elasticity

[0002] The present invention relates generally to milking technology for obtaining milk from dairy animals and, in particular, to the "interface" between animal and machine during automated or semi-automated milking in the form of a teat rubber or an elastic teat cup insert which comes into contact with the animal's teat during milking.

[0003] In today's agricultural industry, milk is typically extracted from dairy animals in fully automated or semi-automated systems, which are essentially designed so that a teat cup is typically attached to each individual teat of the dairy animal, temporarily creating a flow channel between the teat and a milk collection container. The actual contact between the animal's teat, which represents a complex and sensitive biological system for suckling a calf, is achieved through a component inserted into the teat cup sleeve, typically referred to as a teat liner and hereinafter as an elastic teat cup insert.

[0004] The elastic teat cup insert, made of rubber or a polymer material such as silicone, initially has the task of contacting the milking animal's teat during the milking process. During the milking process, it adheres to the teat through static friction and the negative operating pressure prevailing beneath the teat, which is transmitted through the elastic teat cup insert. The elastic teat cup insert, which adheres to the teat, creates a flow channel through which the milk flowing from the teat is diverted through the interior of the teat cup insert and ultimately into a piping system and a storage container.For this purpose, the elastic teat cup insert typically has a head section designed to enable mechanical attachment to the teat cup sleeve, while also providing a corresponding opening and contact surfaces to facilitate insertion of the teat into the elastic teat cup insert. Adjoining the head section is a hose section of a certain length, which is determined by the specific application and the machine milking system used.

[0005] When the milking animal's teat is sufficiently inserted into the opening in the head area of ​​the elastic teat cup insert and the teat cup insert adheres to the teat, a portion of the inner wall of the tube area also rests against the teat, thus contributing to a relatively tight contact between the teat and the teat cup insert. In automated milking, a technique has become established whereby periodic pressure differences are generated in a space within the teat cup formed by the teat cup sleeve and the outer wall of the elastic teat cup insert.This causes the corresponding section of the tube to "fold in" at elevated pressure in this space, which is approximately equal to atmospheric pressure. This more or less interrupts the flow channel in the teat and the teat cup insert. At the same time, by pressing the elastically deformed section of the tube against the teat, a corresponding massaging effect is achieved. This phase of the milking process is often referred to as the relief phase.On the other hand, if a negative pressure exists in the space formed by the teat cup sleeve and the outer wall of the elastic teat cup insert, which, for example, roughly corresponds to the negative pressure prevailing under the teat, then the corresponding section of the tube area "unfolds" due to the inherent elasticity of the teat cup insert and releases the flow channel in and under the teat, allowing milk to flow from the teat due to the suction effect. This phase of the milking process is typically referred to as the suction phase.

[0006] The duration of a single suction phase and a subsequent relief phase is in the range of 1 second, whereby typically the proportion of the suction phase is adjustable at the expense of the relief phase and a corresponding variability of the ratio of suction phase to relief phase is often dynamically controlled.

[0007] At the start of a milking process, the teat cups are placed on each of the dairy animal’s teats. This is typically done automatically, if a milking robot is used, or manually. When the teat cup is placed on a teat, the teat is inserted into the elastic teat cup insert through the opening in its head area. The teat cup is pushed onto the teat essentially lengthwise so that the edge of the opening initially comes into contact with the teat and is deformed. Finally, contact is made with the inner wall of the tube area, which ensures more or less tight contact between the inner wall of the corresponding section of the tube area and the teat. This tight sealing of the contact surfaces between teat and teat cup insert is achieved by the “milking vacuum” or “milking pressure” prevailing inside the elastic teat cup insert.The corresponding negative pressure, in conjunction with the static friction of the surfaces of the teat cup insert in contact with the teat, ensures that the teat cup adheres. The length of the section of the teat with which the teat ultimately penetrates the elastic teat cup insert depends on the diameter of the opening and the anatomical characteristics of the respective teat. While there are different diameters for the elastic teat cup inserts to accommodate different anatomical conditions, such as length, diameter, etc., of the milking animal's teat, in practical operation it is almost unavoidable that a special teat cup insert must be used for many different sized teats of the milking animal.It is therefore of great importance, particularly in the area surrounding the teat insertion opening, in conjunction with the adjacent tube area, to design the head area in such a way that, on the one hand, rapid attachment, whether automated or manual, is possible, with reliable adhesion being achieved on the first attempt. On the other hand, contact between the teat cup and teat should be maintained as reliably as possible during milking to prevent the teat cup from falling off prematurely and the associated disadvantages. It should be taken into account that the shape of the teat typically changes during the milking process, so that different anatomical conditions for contact between the teat cup and teat exist depending on the phase of the milking process.

[0008] For example, during the milking process, a certain "slackening" of the teat may occur at a later stage, so that due to the constant negative pressure under the teat, a larger portion of the teat is "sucked" into the teat cup insert, which is indicated by the teat cup "climbing" up the teat. However, this changed position of the teat cup can lead to pressure buildup in the vessels in the upper area of ​​the teat and near the udder base, which can have a detrimental effect on the animal and thus potentially lead to increased restlessness and thus the risk of premature termination of the milking process and incomplete milking.

[0009] Furthermore, during certain phases of the milking process, a negative pressure that exceeds the originally applied operating negative pressure, i.e. a reduction in absolute pressure, can be caused directly under the teat, for example when milk that is milked during the sucking phase is quickly removed, so that a negative pressure peak is caused between the teat and the moving milk column.

[0010] In this context, it should be noted that, within the scope of this application, an "increase or increase" in the negative pressure value is to be understood as a larger pressure difference between the pressure under the teat and a reference pressure, for example, the ambient atmospheric pressure. A higher negative pressure value, such as a "negative pressure peak," therefore indicates that the pressure is lower in absolute terms and thus the difference to the reference pressure is increasing.

[0011] Therefore, great efforts are being made to ensure efficient milking. Solutions are being proposed, particularly for the latter problem of negative pressure peaks. For example, atmospheric air is metered into the head area of ​​the teat cup liner and / or directly beneath the teat at certain phases or continuously through appropriately designed valve elements or nozzle elements in order to at least reduce such negative pressure peaks. Typically, these measures involve complex technical modifications, which thus contribute to greater complexity and thus a higher susceptibility to errors, as well as increased cleaning and maintenance costs and / or can lead to adverse effects if these devices fail.

[0012] In view of the above-mentioned situation, it is an object of the present invention to provide means by which one or more of the above-mentioned problems can be avoided or at least reduced in effect.

[0013] The aforementioned object is achieved according to the invention by an elastic teat cup insert which serves to accommodate a teat. The elastic teat cup insert has a tube region and a head region which adjoins the tube region in the longitudinal direction of the tube region and is designed for attachment to a teat cup sleeve and is provided with a teat insertion opening. The elastic teat cup insert further has an annular region which delimits the teat insertion opening and acts as a teat contact surface in the operating position. The annular region has a wave-like structure along the circumference of the teat insertion opening with raised wave crests and depressed wave troughs in the longitudinal direction, wherein at least one material property in the wave crests is different from that in the wave troughs.

[0014] The teat cup insert according to the invention thus has, in particular, the wave-like structure, which has at least one material property that has a different characteristic in the wave crests compared to the wave troughs. This modulated material property gives the teat insertion opening a greater degree of adaptability to a teat to be inserted. This improved adaptability, i.e., deformability, causes the teat cup insert to adhere more intensively both immediately upon application of the teat cup to the teat and during the entire milking process, without, however, developing any biologically adverse effects. It should be noted that a material property is to be understood as describing a certain property of a piece of material regardless of its composition.The material property of a wave crest or trough can be determined, for example, by using two or more base materials with more or less different chemical compositions and / or by adjusting the physical structure of at least part of the material piece in question and / or by adjusting the physical and / or chemical structure of an essentially identical base material. The local adjustment of the material property can take place during a printing process or a casting process and / or as a post-treatment. The adjustment of the material property, for example as a post-treatment, can take place physically through the action of radiation, in the form of particles or photons, e.g., lasers, electrons, etc., by applying external forces or pressure, by applying heat / cold, and the like.Adjusting the material property, for example in the form of post-treatment, can also involve chemical treatment. In other embodiments, the adjustment, for example as post-treatment, is carried out through a combination of chemical and physical treatments. For example, the deformation behavior in the elastic range of a piece of material, hereinafter also referred to as elastic deformation, can be adjusted as desired by physically and / or chemically modifying a base material and / or by providing two or more base materials that are combined to form the piece of material in question.

[0015] In particular, the teat cup insert according to the invention makes it possible to milk a larger proportion of dairy animals in a herd with a given diameter of the teat insertion opening, since a selected diameter of the teat insertion opening of the teat cup insert according to the invention ensures more reliable and gentler milking for a larger proportion of different teat sizes compared to conventionally designed teat cup inserts. Typically, it is correspondingly complex to meet the different requirements of a herd of dairy animals in daily operation. If, for example, animals with relatively small teats are present in the herd to be milked, one or more milking places may have to be reserved for these animals in order to provide appropriate milking equipment with suitable teat cup insert diameters.In practice, this is relatively complex, especially if this type of "selection" is to be carried out on small or medium-sized farms. However, even on large farms, appropriate selection of dairy animals based on teat size and the provision of appropriate milking parlors with teat cup inserts with different diameters of the teat openings is a significant expense. Therefore, especially on small and medium-sized farms, milking is often carried out with a "compromise" liner, with the diameter of the liner openings selected so that the majority of the dairy animals in the herd can be milked relatively efficiently.However, in dairy animals with larger teats, i.e. teats that are too large for the selected opening diameter, this approach can typically lead to congestion in the teat vessels, which can have correspondingly adverse effects on the teat and thus on yield, both in the short and long term. On the other hand, in animals with teats that are too small, there is only limited adhesion compared to the "compromise" liner, which creates the risk of teat cup drop during milking and thus causes an interruption in the milking process. This leads to additional effort due to reapplying the teat cups and typically leads to a longer milking process. Teat cup drop can also result in incomplete milking of one or more udder quarters.

[0016] However, the teat cup insert according to the invention allows for a significantly wider range of teats to be milked reliably and in a way that is gentle on the animals through a single selected opening size thanks to its wave-like structure. This makes it possible to minimize the effort required to adjust the teat cup liner selection and potential impairments due to a suboptimal match between the teat and the opening diameter. This means that the teat cup insert according to the invention is more tolerant of teat size fluctuations compared to conventionally designed teat cup liners.

[0017] It should be noted that a wave-like structure within the meaning of the present application is to be understood as a structure in which elevations and depressions alternate along a circumferential direction of the teat insertion opening, which are correspondingly referred to as wave crests and wave troughs. A wave crest is to be understood as an "elevation" in the sense that in the longitudinal direction of the teat cup insert, for example with respect to an imaginary central axis of the teat cup insert, the head region is "above" and the tube region is located longitudinally behind the head region and thus "below" the head region. A wave crest is thus a section in the circumferential direction of the teat insertion opening that contains the point of maximum distance from the tube region, and a wave trough is a section in the circumferential direction of the teat insertion opening that contains the point of minimum distance from the tube region.The wave crests and troughs are thus "deflected" relative to each other in the longitudinal direction. Furthermore, a wave-like structure, as used herein, is to be understood as a structure in which the wave crests and / or troughs, viewed from the side, i.e., viewed perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, can have any shape, such as circular arcs, a combination of circular arcs with different radii, possibly in conjunction with straight sections, and the like. For example, the wave crests and / or troughs, viewed from the side, are formed as rounded shapes, as squares, rectangles, triangles, or the like.

[0018] The wave-like structure means, for example, that when the teat cup is placed on the teat of the dairy animal, it requires less effort to deform, particularly in the ring area where the wave-like structure is located adjacent to the teat insertion opening, so that the teat can enter the opening relatively unhindered. At the same time, it can come into contact with the corresponding wave crests, so that once the teat has penetrated a certain depth, stable mechanical contact is created between the teat cup insert and the teat in its upper area. In conjunction with the adjacent wall area of ​​the tube area, this creates an almost airtight seal, allowing the teat cup to reliably adhere to the teat by suction. This means:This increased flexibility in the deformation of the ring area at the edge of the teat insertion opening reduces the mechanical force exerted on the teat and thus generally reduces the force required to insert the teat into the teat insertion opening, while simultaneously ensuring more intensive contact between the teat and the teat cup insert. Compared to conventional teat cup inserts, this results in improved conditions for both the operator and the mechanism, as well as for the animal, when attaching the teat cup, as the strain on the teat is reduced.

[0019] Even in the further course of the milking process, in which possible negative pressure peaks can occur, as explained at the beginning, the greater flexibility and more efficient deformability of the ring area of ​​the wave structure near the teat insertion opening due to the different material properties in the wave crests compared to the wave troughs has a beneficial effect, since under these conditions the presence of the wave troughs results in a slight, controlled detachment caused by the inherent elasticity of the material of the wave-like structure, so that a short-term gas exchange can take place between the interior of the teat cup insert and the surrounding atmosphere, thus contributing to a reduction in possible negative pressure peaks., the result is the effect of a valve which, when negative pressure peaks occur, opens one or more flow channels between the interior and the surrounding atmosphere in a self-regulating manner, in order to thus enable the negative pressure peaks to be reduced without, however, reducing the negative pressure to a value that would cause the teat cup to fall off. The extent of this valve effect can be modulated as desired, in addition to the geometric properties of the wave-like structure and the basic properties of the base material, in particular by adjusting at least one material property. In this way, on the one hand, reliable adhesion of the teat cup is guaranteed even during critical phases of the milking process, while on the other hand, unfavorable pressure conditions on the teat are avoided or even reduced.can be significantly reduced, thus avoiding or at least reducing adverse effects on teat physiology. For example, this also significantly reduces the tendency to climb the teat cup, since a change in the teat anatomy during milking, as previously explained, can at least largely prevent an increase in negative pressure.

[0020] In a further advantageous embodiment, the at least one material property represents elastic deformability. This measure allows a reversible change in the shape of the inlet opening to be achieved over an even larger area.

[0021] In one embodiment, a numerical value of a radial extension of the wave-like structure in the annular region, starting from the edge of the teat insertion opening, is greater than a numerical value of the radius of the teat insertion opening. This means that, starting from the edge of the teat insertion opening, the wave-like structure extends in the radial direction, i.e., in the direction perpendicular to the circumferential direction and thus perpendicular to the "propagation direction" of the wave, to a distance greater than the radius of the teat insertion opening. This ensures, to an even greater extent, that the increased flexibility brought about by the wave-like structure is also present when inserting teats with different teat diameters, particularly in conjunction with the material properties set differently for the wave crests and wave troughs.This is because, with a corresponding lowering of the ring area during teat insertion, the effect of the wave-like structure is effective over a large distance radially outward, toward the edge of the head area. With a corresponding scaling of the radius of the teat insertion opening, for example, when teat cup inserts with very different teat diameters and / or for different animal species are specified, a high degree of flexibility in the opening area is always ensured and the effect is further improved, allowing a wider range of teat diameters to be covered, as previously explained.

[0022] In a further advantageous embodiment, the at least one material property represents a modulus of elasticity. This measure makes it possible to adjust the flexibility and thus deformability, which is already more pronounced due to the wave-like structure, in a controlled manner through design measures, i.e., by appropriately adjusting the modulus of elasticity locally in the wave crests and wave troughs. This means that the value of the modulus of elasticity of sections of the wave crests or wave troughs is determined during the manufacturing process of the teat cup insert in such a way that the desired controlled elastic deformability is achieved.This controlled elastic deformability can be produced to a high degree across many products with consistent quality, since the local determination of the elastic modulus takes place during the manufacturing process, for example during injection molding or printing, and only very small or even minimal and well-known tolerances occur.

[0023] In a further advantageous embodiment, the elastic modulus value in the wave crests is smaller than the elastic modulus value in the wave troughs. This design measure ensures that the elastic deformability and thus flexibility of the wave structure along the longitudinal axis of the elastic teat cup insert is adjusted in such a way that the teat cup can be pushed onto the teat with less resistance, while in the opposite direction, the modified flexibility increases resistance, significantly improving adhesion after attachment.

[0024] In a further advantageous embodiment, the length of the wave troughs at the edge of the teat insertion opening is greater than the length of the wave crests. This means that directly at the edge of the teat insertion opening, i.e., in a sectional or side view of the teat insertion opening, the wave-like structure is constructed such that the wave crests are shorter and therefore more curved, i.e., have a smaller radius of curvature. This means that the length of the wave crests along the circumferential direction of the teat insertion opening is smaller than the corresponding length in the circumferential direction of the wave troughs, which have a larger radius of curvature and thus a smaller curvature.It should be noted that the radius of curvature can vary along a wave crest or trough, for example, if relatively straight sections are provided. In this context, the radius of curvature is to be understood as an averaged radius of curvature for a wave crest or trough. The transition between a wave crest and a wave trough can be understood as the inflection point of an imaginary line in the middle of the material of the wave-like structure.

[0025] This design makes the wave crests directly adjacent to the teat insertion opening relatively compact in their circumferential extension, thus leaving room for significantly more pronounced wave troughs, which therefore ensure improved deformability directly adjacent to the teat insertion opening. In a further advantageous embodiment, the circumferential extension of the wave troughs remains essentially constant with increasing distance from the teat insertion opening. This means that with increasing radial distance from the teat insertion opening, the circumferential extension of the wave troughs does not change significantly, thus remaining essentially constant, so that the circumferential extension of the wave crests increases accordingly.This ensures that, on the one hand, the required elastic deformability of the ring area is maintained even at a greater radial distance from the teat insertion opening, while, on the other hand, the extent in the circumferential direction of the wave crests increases, so that the size of the effective contact area with the teat also increases with increasing radial distance from the teat insertion opening. This ensures that, even with teats with smaller diameters, where the teat must be inserted further into the teat insertion opening, increasingly better adhesion is achieved in the upper area of ​​the teat, thus ensuring that adhesion already occurs before the head area rests on the teat base, i.e. directly on the udder floor.

[0026] In a further advantageous embodiment, at least three wave troughs are provided in the wave-like structure. This minimum number of wave troughs, and thus also wave crests, results in sufficient elastic deformability, which leads to the advantageous effects already described. In other embodiments, six or more wave troughs are provided. In this way, the effectiveness of the wave-like structure can be further improved, as a more "fine-grained" structuring is achieved, which can thus be more efficiently adapted to different teat sizes, i.e., different teat lengths and diameters.

[0027] In advantageous embodiments, the annular region is inclined from the edge of the head region toward the teat insertion opening in the direction of the tube region. This means that the teat insertion opening is set back "downward" relative to an uppermost surface of the head region, i.e., set back toward the tube region, resulting in structurally improved deformability of the annular region during attachment, which further enhances the effect of the wave-like structure.

[0028] In other embodiments, a corresponding inclination of the ring region and thus a lowering of the teat insertion opening is not provided, since the wave-like structure itself already ensures the necessary adaptability of the teat insertion opening in the manner described above. In advantageous embodiments, the teat insertion opening is suitably dimensioned such that a teat of a large dairy animal, in particular a cow or a buffalo, can be inserted therein.

[0029] In other embodiments, the teat insertion opening is suitably dimensioned such that a teat of a small dairy animal, in particular a sheep or a goat, can be inserted therein.

[0030] In this way, the elastic teat cup insert can be applied to a large number of teats with different anatomies.

[0031] In a further aspect of the present invention, the object mentioned above is achieved by a method for producing an elastic teat cup insert having the features of claim 12. Further advantageous embodiments of the method are defined in the corresponding subclaims.

[0032] In the method according to the invention, the elastic teat cup insert is manufactured in such a way that at least one material property is locally adjusted. This means that at least one material property is different at least in the wave crests than in the wave troughs, thereby enabling a desired "modulation" of the elastic behavior, particularly in the area of ​​the inlet opening, during the manufacturing process.

[0033] For this purpose, an injection molding process is modified accordingly so that the material properties exhibit the desired differences locally in the area of ​​the wave crests and troughs. A multi-component injection molding process can be used for this purpose, in which two or more different material mixtures are injected. The inherently uniform material mixture can be modified locally by changing certain parameters, such as temperature, pressure, etc., to create the desired profile of the material properties. The material properties can be adjusted in such a way that an abrupt change in the material properties occurs between wave crests and troughs, or a more or less continuous change in the material properties can be achieved.

[0034] Other technical processes include printing, also known as 3D printing, where the material mixture used is varied locally during the printing process and / or one or more parameters of the printing process, such as material temperature, applied tensile force, etc., are modulated.

[0035] An example of a material property is the elastic coefficient or elastic modulus, which quantitatively describes elastic deformability. This means that a lower value of the elastic modulus indicates that a smaller elastic deformation occurs when a defined external force is applied. Therefore, the material region with the lower elastic modulus is stiffer than the material region with the higher elastic modulus.

[0036] It should be noted that this is a material property that is independent of the geometry of the material region under consideration. Furthermore, the material property, such as the elastic modulus, can be measured using suitable measurement methods, such as those well known for the elastic modulus.

[0037] In the present application, a difference in the at least one material property is to be understood such that a numerical value for the material property determined by a suitable method at a first material region, such as the wave crests, differs by at least 5%, in other embodiments by at least 10%, in still other embodiments by at least 15% from the numerical value resulting from the same method for a second material region, such as the wave troughs.

[0038] The above-described aspects and embodiments of the invention, as well as further embodiments, will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0039] Figure 1A schematically shows a perspective view of a part of a teat cup insert having a head region with a wave-like structure,

[0040] Figure 1 B shows a plan view of the head area from “above”,

[0041] Figure 1C shows a sectional view through the part of the teat cup insert corresponding to the section AA shown in Figure 1B,

[0042] Figure 1D shows a sectional view of the head region corresponding to section BB of Figure 1B,

[0043] Figure 1E shows a plan view of the head region with a section line drawn in that encompasses approximately 3 / 4 of the circumference of the teat insertion opening, Figure 1F shows a sectional view of the teat cup insert according to the section line AA shown in Figure 1E,

[0044] Figure 2A shows schematically a perspective view of another teat cup insert,

[0045] Figure 2B shows a top view of the teat cup insert of Figure 2A and

[0046] Figure 2C shows a sectional view of the teat cup insert of Figures 2A and 2B.

[0047] Figure 1A shows a schematic perspective view of a teat rubber or an elastic teat cup insert 100, which is typically made of an elastic material, such as rubber, a polymer material, in particular a silicone material, and the like. The elastic teat cup insert 100 has a tube region 110, which is only schematically indicated, and a head region 120. The tube region 110 and the head region 120 are arranged one after the other in a longitudinal direction L, wherein, in the present application, the head region 120 is located "on top" with respect to the tube region 110.

[0048] The head region 120 is generally designed to enable a mechanical connection to a teat cup sleeve (not shown), as described in more detail in connection with Figure 1C. Furthermore, the head region 120 has an edge 121 which, depending on specific circumstances, is more or less bulged compared to a lower part of the head region 120 or compared to the tube region 110. Furthermore, an annular region 130, hereinafter simply referred to as the annular region, is provided, in the center of which a teat insertion opening 150 is formed. Furthermore, a wave-like structure 140 is formed in the annular region 130 such that the teat insertion opening 150 is thus delimited by a circumferential wave-like contour, i.e. the wave-like structure 140. This means that the wave-like structure has a "wave propagation direction" that runs in the circumferential direction of the opening 150.In the circumferential direction, wave crests 141 and wave troughs 142 are therefore arranged alternately.

[0049] The size of the teat insertion opening 150, for example its diameter, is adapted to the anatomical conditions of a teat of a dairy animal to be milked. For example, the elastic teat cup insert 100 can be suitably dimensioned to milk relatively small dairy animals, such as sheep, goats, and the like. In this regard, the dimensions, such as the length and in particular the diameter of the elastic teat cup insert 100 and thus also of the teat insertion opening 150 formed therein, must be determined accordingly. When designed for milking larger dairy animals, such as cows, buffalo, and the like, which generally have somewhat larger teats, the dimensions of the elastic teat cup insert 100 must be adapted accordingly.Corresponding basic dimensions for different dairy animals, as well as different anatomical conditions of dairy animals of the same breed, are sufficiently known and can be applied accordingly to the present elastic teat cup insert 100.

[0050] Figure 1B schematically shows a plan view of the head region 120 of the elastic teat cup insert 100 shown in Figure 1A, wherein the teat insertion opening 150 is shown as a central circular opening whose radius 151R is to be adapted to the respective circumstances, as previously explained. A central circular opening is usually used so that the corresponding teat cup inserts can be used without taking their subsequent position in the milking cluster into account. Within the scope of the present invention, it is also possible to select the general shape of the teat insertion opening 150 such that it deviates from the circular shape. For example, the circumference of the teat insertion opening 150 in plan view can have the shape of a polygon, an oval, and the like. If an oval shape is selected, the corresponding suitable angular position may need to be taken into account when installing the teat cup insert 100 in a corresponding teat cup sleeve.

[0051] Furthermore, in the illustrated embodiment, the radial extent of the wave-like structure 140, ie the combination of the wave crests 141 and the wave troughs 142, is set such that the numerical value of the radial extent, which is shown here as 140S by way of example, is greater than the numerical value of the radius 151R of the teat insertion opening 150. As already explained above, a corresponding dimensioning of the radial extent 140S of the wave-like structure 140 is advantageous since the elastic deformability of the ring region 130 when a teat is inserted into the opening 150 is very pronounced and thus a reliable contact of the wave crests 141 with the respective teat section is possible.In other embodiments (not shown), the radial extent 140S is numerically smaller than the radius 151R of the opening 150 if a "harder" or "more rigid" behavior of the teat cup insert 100 in the region of the opening 150 is desired.

[0052] Furthermore, in the illustrated embodiment, the extension of the wave troughs 142 along the circumferential direction, designated here as 160, is designed such that it remains virtually constant even with a greater radial distance from the teat insertion opening 150. This means that the dimensions of the wave troughs remain the same with increasing radial distance from the opening 150, so that the wave crests 141 accordingly have a nearly triangular shape in plan view, and thus a corresponding contact surface provided by the upper side of the wave crests 141 becomes larger with increasing radial distance. In this way, with increasing penetration of a teat into the opening 150 and the associated deformation and downward folding of the annular region 130, an increasingly larger contact surface is created while at the same time ensuring good deformability of the annular region 130.

[0053] Figure 1C shows a schematic cross-sectional view along the section line AA shown in Figure 1B.

[0054] As can be seen in this view, the deflections of the wave crests 141 and wave troughs 142 run along the longitudinal direction L (see Figure 1), or also in the direction of a central axis MA. Thus, each wave crest 141 has a point at which an axial distance to the hose region 110 is maximum. Likewise, each wave trough 142 has a point at which an axial distance to the hose region 110 is minimum. As already explained above, the geometric shape of the wave crests 141 and the wave troughs 142 in the side view is not restricted in any particular way, provided that raised areas result as wave crests 141 and depressed areas as wave troughs 142. In embodiments not shown, the wave crests 141 and / or the wave troughs 142 can have more or less pronounced edges, provided this is feasible during production and deemed suitable for the application.

[0055] Furthermore, in the embodiment shown, an extension in the circumferential direction 142L of the wave troughs 142 is greater than a corresponding extension in the circumferential direction 141L of the wave crests 141, this applying to the edge region that delimits the teat insertion opening 150, as shown in Figure 2 and Figure 1. With increasing radial distance from the opening 150 (see Figure 1 or Figure 2), the extension in the circumferential direction 142L of the wave troughs 142 remains substantially the same, while the radial extension in the circumferential direction 141L of the wave crests increases continuously.

[0056] For the illustrated embodiment, therefore, for the edge of the teat insertion opening 150, the radius of curvature of the wave crests 141 is relatively small, corresponding to the small extension length 141L in the circumferential direction, while the radius of curvature for the wave troughs 142 is relatively large, so that the larger extension in the circumferential direction 142L is obtained. This means that around the edge of the teat insertion opening 150, the radius of curvature of the wave crests 141 is smaller than the radius of curvature of the wave troughs 142. It should be noted that a corresponding radius of curvature is to be understood as an average value for a section of the corresponding wave crest or wave trough. This means that for the corresponding extension 142L of the wave troughs 142, an average radius of curvature is selected which is greater than an average radius of curvature resulting for the extension length 141L of the wave crests 141.

[0057] As previously explained in connection with the top view of Figure 1B, a corresponding radius of curvature for the wave troughs 142 remains substantially the same with increasing radial distance from the opening 150, while the corresponding radius of curvature for the wave crests increases with increasing radial distance from the opening 150 and may become larger than the radius of curvature of the wave troughs at the considered radial distance from the opening 150.

[0058] In other embodiments not shown, an increase or decrease in the circumferential extension of the wave troughs 142L may be provided, whereby, in particular, the deformation behavior can be adjusted through design measures. Accordingly, the corresponding extension length 141L of the wave crests changes in a complementary manner.

[0059] As schematically shown in Figure 1C, a material property has a value M1 that can be specified by a measurement process, at least in the area of ​​the maximum of the respective wave crests 141, which differs from a value M2 of the material property of the wave troughs 142, at least in their minimum. It should be noted that the wave crests 141 are to be understood as arbitrarily shaped elevations in the sense that they have a greater distance from the hose region 110 than the wave troughs 142, which accordingly have a smaller distance from the hose region 110. In particular, the wave crests 141 contain the point with the maximum distance from the hose region 110, and the wave troughs 142 contain the point with the minimum distance from the hose region 110.

[0060] As previously explained, the values ​​M1 and M2 can be determined and compared using a suitable measurement method. For example, there are standardized methods for measuring the elastic modulus that are applicable for this purpose. In general, methods can be devised and applied that are adapted to the specific circumstances. For example, samples of equal volume can be taken from the wave crests on the one hand and the wave troughs on the other, and these samples can be subjected to optical, chemical, or physical processes to obtain a corresponding response from the sample.For example, in addition to simple mechanical processes, such as the application of external forces, many physical processes, such as microscopic examination, electron microscopy, X-rays, and the like, can be used additionally or alternatively to determine one or more specific numerical values ​​for the material property of the sample under investigation. This one or more numerical values ​​can then be compared with the corresponding one or more numerical values ​​of the other sample to quantitatively determine and adjust any difference.

[0061] As already explained above, adjusting the material property in the form of the values ​​M1 and M2, for example, adjusting the modulus of elasticity, allows for controlling the elastic deformation behavior of the wave-like structure 140. For example, if the value M1 of the material property in question, which refers to the modulus of elasticity, is reduced, the wave-like structure 140 becomes "harder" upon contact with the teat surface. The stiffness of the wave-like structure 140 can also be adjusted by the material property M1. On the other hand, for the value M2 of the material property of the wave troughs 142, increasing this value accordingly, provided the material property describes elasticity, for example, in the form of the modulus of elasticity, increases the overall deformability of the wave-like structure 140.

[0062] Figure 1D shows schematically a sectional view of the head region 120 according to the section line BB of Figure 1BD h. In contrast to the view of Figure 1C, in which a wave crest 141 is located centrally with respect to the central axis MA, in the view of Figure 1D a wave trough 142 is located centrally with respect to the central axis MA.

[0063] As can further be seen in Figure 1D (and also in Figure 1C and Figure 1A), in the illustrated embodiments, the ring region 130 is provided with an inclination 135 such that the opening 150 (see Figure 1B) and thus the corresponding edge region of the wave-like structure 140 are lowered compared to the edge 121 of the head region 120. This recessed arrangement of the opening 150 results in more favorable behavior during deformation when a teat is inserted into the opening 150, so that in addition to the increased flexibility and deformability created by the wave-like structure 140, a further contribution is made, whereby the process of inserting the teat, i.e., attaching the teat cup, becomes more efficient, while moving the teat out is made more difficult, so that overall the adhesion of the teat cup to the teat during the milking process is increased.

[0064] Figure 1 E shows a further plan view of the head region 120, wherein a section line AA is shown which sweeps over approximately three-quarters of the circumference 160 of the teat insertion opening 150.

[0065] Figure 1F shows the corresponding sectional view along section line AA of Figure 1E, wherein four fully formed wave troughs 142 of the six wave troughs 142 provided in this embodiment are visible. Similarly, four complete wave crests 141 of the six wave crests 141 are visible. The number of wave crests and thus wave troughs 141, 142 can also be determined during manufacture of the teat cup insert 100 to adjust the deformation behavior. In illustrative embodiments, at least three wave crests and wave troughs are provided, while in other embodiments, such as the one shown, at least six wave crests and wave troughs are provided.A corresponding limitation on the number of wave crests and troughs arises, for example, due to manufacturing conditions. For example, with a high number of wave crests and troughs, the radius of curvature of the wave crests or troughs at a given radial position becomes so small that correct shaping is no longer guaranteed during the corresponding injection molding process. However, with typical dimensions for elastic teat cup inserts for goats, sheep, cattle, and the like, the number of wave crests and troughs can be easily increased to 8-10.

[0066] Furthermore, Figure 1 F shows a corresponding incision 122 which serves to receive the wall of a teat cup sleeve 170, so that a mechanical fixation to the teat cup sleeve 170 and a tight closure thereto is achieved.

[0067] The teat cup insert 100 can be manufactured using methods known per se, although according to the invention the manufacturing process is modified such that the material property in question assumes a different value at the wave crests 141 than at the wave troughs 142. For this purpose, injection molding processes can be designed such that locally different material mixtures are introduced and / or locally different conditions, such as temperature and / or pressure, are created in the same injection process. In other procedures, a material is inserted into the mold before or during the injection of a material mixture, which then leads to the local modulation of the material property. For example, a harder material can be inserted in the area of ​​the wave crests 141, which is then overmolded with the material with the desired property.In other embodiments, a printing process is used in which the material mixture and / or one or more process parameters are locally changed in order to obtain the desired difference in the values ​​of the material property for the wave crests 141 and the wave troughs 142.

[0068] During use of the elastic teat cup insert 100, which is fastened to the teat cup sleeve 170 for this purpose and thus forms a teat cup, which in turn is part of a corresponding set of teat cups, the teat cup and thus the teat cup insert 100 is brought towards a teat 180, so that the teat 180 ultimately enters the opening 150. As a result, the ring region 130 including the wave-like structure 140 is deformed accordingly, ie pressed “downwards” in the longitudinal direction, so that the wave crests 141 come into contact with the outer surface of the teat 180. I.e.Due to the elastic deformation of the wave-like structure 140 during insertion of the teat 180, the efficient deformability of the wave-like structure 140 leads to insertion with only minimal effort, until finally the elastic restoring force of the wave-like structure 140 leads to an adhesive contact with the teat 180, so that reliable adhesion of the teat cup insert 100 and thus of the speaking teat cup is ensured. This means that in this position, which is also referred to as the operating position, in which the wave-like structure 140 is deformed "downward" (not shown), a relatively high adhesive force is effective, which, in conjunction with a contact area (not shown) of the hose area 110, leads to an undesired premature detachment of the teat cup from the teat 180 being essentially avoided without the teat becoming constricted.This simplifies the attachment process and increases the overall adhesion of the teat cup during the milking process, while, as already mentioned, virtually eliminating any negative influence, such as constriction, as is otherwise the case with conventional teat cup liners with a matching or relatively narrow diameter.

[0069] If certain negative pressure peaks occur under the teat during milking, as already explained above, the wave-like structure 140 enables a slight detachment from the teat 180 in certain areas, but without reducing adhesion to the teat 180 to such an extent that cup drop occurs. This partial detachment temporarily creates one or more flow channels between the interior of the teat cup insert 100 and the surrounding atmosphere. This valve effect can therefore significantly reduce negative pressure peaks, allowing for a reliable and animal-friendly milking process. A high head vacuum can lead to swelling of the teat, so that the teat acts almost like a plug, thus making further milking of the affected udder area more difficult and subsequently leading to udder health problems.For example, this can lead to an increased proportion of residual milk in the affected udder area, which in turn can cause impairment of udder health and / or a loss of yield.

[0070] Figure 2A shows a perspective view of a teat cup insert 200 according to further embodiments of the present invention. Similar to the previously described teat cup insert 100, the teat cup insert 200 has a tube region 210 and a head region 220 adjacent thereto in the longitudinal direction of the tube region 210. The head region 220 has an edge 221 and is further configured to be attached to a teat cup sleeve (not shown), as already explained above in connection with Figures 1A-1F. Furthermore, an annular region 230 is provided in the head region 220, which in turn includes a wave-like structure 240 with wave crests 241 and wave troughs 242. With regard to the terms wave-like structure, wave crests, and wave troughs, reference is made to the previous explanations.The ring region 230 in conjunction with the wave-like structure 240 defines a teat insertion opening 250 which serves to receive a teat.

[0071] In the illustrated embodiment, the wave-like structure 240 is designed such that the wave troughs 242 become smaller in their circumferential extension as the radial distance from the opening 250 increases. This means that, in contrast to the wave-like structure 140 of the previous embodiments, the wave troughs 242 become smaller outwardly in their circumferential extension, thus leading to the wave crests 241 increasing more in the circumferential direction with increasing radial distance than is the case for the design of the wave-like structures 140 of the previously described embodiments.The degree of "tapering" of the wave troughs 242 with increasing radial distance from the opening 250 can be selected as required in order to, for example, increase the rigidity of the wave-like structure 240 and thus of the annular region 230 with increasing radial distance, in addition to the different material properties of the wave crests 241 and the wave troughs 242. This allows a higher degree of adhesive force to be achieved with smaller teats or with a softer polymer mixture of the teat cup insert, if, for example, the teat diameter in question would be too small for the diameter of the opening 250 of a conventional teat cup insert. However, due to the wave-like structure 240, the opening 250 is still suitable for the teat in question in this case, since a corresponding sliding of the teat cup insert results in a reliable hold even for the relatively small teat.Figure 2B shows a plan view of the teat cup insert 200, wherein it can be seen more clearly that the wave-like structure 240 with the wave crests 241 and the wave troughs 242 is designed such that the corresponding extension or length of the wave crests 241 and the wave troughs 242 along a circumferential direction 260 of the opening 250 changes with increasing radial distance 240A from the opening 250.In the embodiment shown, this means that the circumferential extension of the wave troughs 242 decreases with increasing distance 240A, i.e., starting from the opening 250 and pointing outwards, the corresponding circumferential extension decreases, while on the other hand, the circumferential extension of the wave crests 241 increases and increases "faster" than is the case for the previously described embodiments, in which, for example, the circumferential extension of the wave troughs remains approximately the same with increasing radial distance. By adjusting the degree of tapering of the wave troughs 242 while otherwise keeping parameters constant, such as material thickness, material type, and the like, the size of the support surface and, on the other hand, the flexibility of the wave-like structure 240 can be determined structurally as a function of the radial distance 240A.

[0072] Figure 2C shows a schematic sectional view of the teat cup insert 200. As shown, the head region 220 is provided with a receptacle 222 which is designed to encompass an upper part of a teat cup sleeve (not shown), thus ensuring a reliable mechanical connection between the teat cup sleeve and the teat cup insert 200. As is further shown, the ring region 230 with the wave-like structure 240 is designed such that maxima of the wave crests 241 and minima of the wave troughs 242 define an upper side 2400 and a lower side 240U of the wave-like structure, which together essentially correspond to a maximum material thickness of the ring region 230, wherein the maxima of the wave crests 241, i.e. the upper side 2400, are almost flat to an unstructured surface 236 of the ring region 230. That is to say, in this variant there is no "depression" of the wave-like structure 240, which would be caused by an inward inclination, as is the case, for example, with the inclination 135 of the ring region 130 in some previously described embodiments (see Figure 1D).

[0073] As further shown, at the edge region of the opening 250 (see Figure 2B), an extension 242L of the wave troughs 242 in the circumferential direction 260 (see Figure 2B) is greater than a corresponding extension 241L of the wave crests 241, wherein this relationship changes rapidly and reverses with increasing radial distance from the opening 250, as previously explained. Furthermore, the wall thicknesses of the wave crests 241 and the wave troughs 242 can be the same or different. According to the invention, the wave crests 241 and the wave troughs 242 are also characterized here by at least one material property that can be quantitatively described as values ​​M1, M2 and that is different for the wave crests 241 and the wave troughs 242. With regard to the material properties determined by the values ​​M1 and M2, the same criteria apply as previously described in connection with Figures 1a to 1f.

[0074] In general, it should also be noted that all design measures described in connection with the embodiments of Figures 1A to 1F can also be applied in the same way to the embodiments as described in Figures 2A to 20.

[0075] The present invention is therefore based on the concept that the elastic deformability of a teat cup insert in the area of ​​the teat insertion opening can be improved by providing a wave-like structure whose wave crests and troughs differ in at least one material property. This provides a large contact surface with defined elastic behavior for contact with the relevant teat area, and improved adaptability to teats of different sizes is achieved without increasing the risk of teat cup drop and simultaneously causing adverse effects on the teat tissue.Furthermore, it is possible to manufacture at least almost the head region of the teat cup insert, preferably almost the entire teat cup insert, from a softer material blend, such as a softer polymer blend, and to provide a local difference in a material property, such as a difference in the modulus of elasticity, only between wave crests and wave troughs, without causing the conventionally associated disadvantages of lower adhesive force. Furthermore, the wave-like structure can serve as an efficient valve to reduce negative pressure peaks during the milking process.

Claims

Patent claims 1. Elastic teat cup insert for receiving a teat, with a tube region, a head region which is adjacent in the longitudinal direction of the tube region and is designed for attachment to a teat cup sleeve and is provided with a teat insertion opening, and an annular region which delimits the teat insertion opening and acts as a teat contact surface in the operating position and which has a wave-like structure with longitudinally raised wave peaks and depressed wave troughs along the circumference of the teat insertion opening, wherein a wave peak is a section in the circumferential direction of the teat insertion opening which contains the point of maximum distance from the tube region, and a wave trough is a section which contains the point of minimum distance from the tube region, and wherein at least one material property in the wave peaks is designed differently than in the wave troughs.

2. Elastic teat cup insert according to claim 1, wherein the at least one material property represents elastic deformability.

3. Elastic teat cup insert according to claim 2, wherein the at least one material property is represented by a modulus of elasticity.

4. Elastic teat cup insert according to claim 3, wherein a value of the elastic modulus in the wave crests is smaller than a value of the elastic modulus in the wave troughs.

5. Elastic teat cup insert according to claims 1 to 4, wherein at the edge of the teat insertion opening an extension length of the wave troughs is greater than an extension length of the wave crests.

6. Elastic teat cup insert according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the extent of the wave troughs in the circumferential direction remains substantially the same with increasing distance from the teat insertion opening.

7. Elastic teat cup insert according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein at least three wave troughs are provided in the wave-like structure.

8. Elastic teat cup insert according to claim 7, wherein six or more wave troughs are provided.

9. Elastic teat cup insert according to one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the ring region is inclined from an edge of the head region towards the teat insertion opening.

10. Elastic teat cup insert according to one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the teat insertion opening is suitably dimensioned such that a teat of a large dairy animal, in particular a cattle or a buffalo, can be inserted.

11. Elastic teat cup insert according to one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the teat insertion opening is suitably dimensioned such that a teat of a small dairy animal, in particular a sheep or a goat, can be inserted.

12. Method for producing an elastic teat cup insert, comprising Forming a head region of the elastic teat cup insert, which is designed for attachment to a teat cup sleeve and is provided with a teat insertion opening, Forming a wave-like structure at the head area, and Adjusting at least one material property such that it is formed differently in wave crests of the wave-like structure compared to wave troughs.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the head region with the wave-like structure is formed by a multi-component injection molding process.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the head region with the wave-like structure is formed by a printing process.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the printing process is carried out with multiple material components.

16. The method according to any one of claims 12 to 15, wherein the at least one material property is a modulus of elasticity.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the at least one material property is adjusted such that a value of the elastic modulus in the wave crests is smaller than a value of the elastic modulus in the wave troughs.

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