Partial Milk Removal System for Udder Health and Quality
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current milking methods risk over-milking, leading to teat damage and increased mastitis risk, especially during dry-off, and involve the use of antibiotics to manage udder health, which can result in antibiotic resistance and quality issues with unpasteurized milk.
Innovation Solution
A method where a target quantity of milk is determined based on historic data, allowing for gentle teat treatment and controlled milking, potentially eliminating the need for antibiotic dry-off preparations by ending milking when this target is reached, and adjusting milk production to reduce energy imbalance and promote mammary gland involution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the entire amount of milk in the udder is milked to obtain maximal yield, then milk production is maximized, but teat damage and mastitis risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by deliberately not milking the udder completely dry. Instead of removing all milk, the system stops milking when a predetermined residual amount remains in the udder. This partial removal approach maintains high milk yield while preventing the harmful effects of complete dry-milking, such as teat damage and mastitis, thereby resolving the contradiction between productivity and animal health.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs feedback mechanisms through sensors that continuously monitor milk flow, vacuum pressure, and milking duration. This real-time feedback allows the control system to detect when the residual milk amount approaches the predetermined threshold and automatically stop the milking process. The feedback loop ensures that milk yield is maximized up to the point where teat damage risk increases, without exceeding this critical threshold.
2Reliability
If antibiotics are used to manage udder health during dry-off, then mastitis risk is reduced, but antibiotic resistance and milk quality issues arise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the potentially harmful practice of antibiotic use into a beneficial approach by replacing it with a physical control method. Instead of using antibiotics to manage udder health, the system uses controlled partial milking with predetermined residual amounts and sensor-based feedback to prevent mastitis. This approach maintains udder health reliability while eliminating the harmful effects of antibiotic resistance and milk quality contamination.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the critical parameter from antibiotic concentration to residual milk amount. By controlling the residual milk volume through predetermined thresholds and sensor feedback, the system achieves the same protective effect against mastitis that antibiotics provide, but through a physical parameter (milk volume) rather than a chemical one (antibiotic concentration), thereby avoiding antibiotic-related harmful factors.
3Productivity
If teats are milked for too long or milked when no milk flows, then complete milk removal is achieved, but teat canal closure and hyperkeratoses occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-determining the residual milk amount threshold before milking begins. This predetermined value serves as a stopping criterion that prevents excessive milking duration. By establishing this threshold in advance and using sensors to detect when it is reached, the system ensures complete enough milk removal for productivity while preventing the harmful effects of prolonged milking such as teat canal closure and hyperkeratoses.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatus for milking a milk-producing animal, in particular a cow, that set a target milk quantity which is lower than a possible expected milk quantity, carry out the milking process, determine the milked quantity and compares the milked quantity with the target milk quantity, and terminate milking when the milked quantity corresponds substantially to the target milk quantity.