Segmented Milking Cluster Teat Cup Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing milking technologies face challenges in efficiently managing teat cups during the milking process, particularly for dairy animals with fewer than four teats, as they often require additional actuators and complex tilting devices, leading to issues with teat cup protection, cleanliness, and risk of tangling tension elements.
Innovation Solution
A milking cluster with a teat cup unit that can be moved from a parked position to an attachment and milking position using a robotic arm, featuring a tension element arrangement with segment units that allow for independent movement and covering of each teat cup, minimizing the need for additional actuators and reducing the risk of tangling and soiling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a sliding cup cover is used to protect teat cups, then teat cup protection is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional actuators and complex tilting devices
Solution Approach 1:
The pull element arrangement is divided into multiple independent segment units, each capable of moving and positioning individual teat cups separately. This segmentation allows each teat cup to be independently managed without requiring complex centralized control mechanisms, thereby reducing overall device complexity while maintaining protection capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The segment units are designed to automatically position and protect teat cups through their own mechanical movement capabilities, without requiring additional actuators or external control devices. The system uses the existing pull elements and segment mechanisms to achieve both positioning and protection functions, eliminating the need for separate protective devices.
2Adaptability or versatility
If additional actuators are added to manage teat cups for animals with fewer than four teats, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pull element arrangement consists of multiple independent segment units that can be selectively activated. Each segment unit can independently position and manage a teat cup, allowing the system to adapt to different numbers of teats (three or four) by simply controlling which segments are active, without requiring additional actuators or complex reconfiguration mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The segment units are designed with movable and adjustable characteristics, allowing them to dynamically adapt their positioning and configuration based on the specific needs of the animal being milked. This dynamic capability enables the system to handle different teat configurations flexibly while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
3Ease of operation
If teat cups are left uncovered during milking, then ease of operation is improved, but teat cups become soiled
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the teat cup management into independent segment units, each capable of autonomous movement and positioning. This allows teat cups to be precisely positioned in uncovered states during milking operations for ease of access, while the same segmented structure enables rapid repositioning to covered states when protection is needed, maintaining cleanliness without compromising operational ease.
4Manufacturing precision
If a complex tilting device is used for each teat cup, then teat cup positioning precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using complex tilting devices for each teat cup, the system employs segmented pull element arrangements where each segment unit independently controls the position of individual teat cups. This segmentation achieves precise positioning through simpler mechanical means, avoiding the need for complex tilting mechanisms while maintaining accurate teat cup placement.
Data Source
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AI summary
A milking cluster (2) for a milking parlour (1) for milking milk-giving animals, having at least one teat cup unit having a housing (9), a teat cup (4), a drive appliance (19), a pulling element arrangement connected to the teat cup, is characterized in that the pulling element arrangement has a segment unit (11) having at least two pulling elements (17).