Method and an arrangement at a dairy farm
First Claim
1. A method for cleaning in an automated milking system including a plurality of teat cups, each teat cup being connected to a respective milk line and attached to the teats of a milking animal during milking, the milking system configured to supply a vacuum to the respective milk lines to draw milk from the teats of the milking animal, the method comprising:
- removing milk or other residues present in the teat cups by flushing each of the teat cups with a cleaning fluid supplied via a first supply line;
evacuating cleaning fluid from each of the teat cups or from the first supply line; and
disinfecting at least one of the teat cups by exposing the at least one teat cup to steam, the evacuating cleaning fluid being performed prior to the disinfecting at least one of the teat cups.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A cleaning method in a milking system (9) includes a plurality of teat cups (19), each of which is connected to a respective milk line. During milking of the teats of an animal, the plurality of teat cups (19) are attached to the teats of the animal, and vacuum is supplied to the respective milk lines in order to draw milk from the teats of the milking animal. The cleaning includes removing milk or other residues present at each of the plurality of teat cups by flushing (37) each of the plurality of teat cups with a cleaning fluid supplied via a supply line (36, 34c), evacuating cleaning fluid from each of the plurality of teat cups or from the supply line, and disinfecting at least one of the plurality of teat cups by exposing (60) the at least one of the plurality of teat cups to steam.
76 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for cleaning in an automated milking system including a plurality of teat cups, each teat cup being connected to a respective milk line and attached to the teats of a milking animal during milking, the milking system configured to supply a vacuum to the respective milk lines to draw milk from the teats of the milking animal, the method comprising:
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removing milk or other residues present in the teat cups by flushing each of the teat cups with a cleaning fluid supplied via a first supply line; evacuating cleaning fluid from each of the teat cups or from the first supply line; and disinfecting at least one of the teat cups by exposing the at least one teat cup to steam, the evacuating cleaning fluid being performed prior to the disinfecting at least one of the teat cups. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for cleaning in an automated milking system including a plurality of teat cups, each teat cup being connected to a respective milk line and attached to the teats of a milking animal during milking, the milking system configured to supply a vacuum to the respective milk lines to draw milk from the teats of the milking animal, the method comprising:
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removing milk or other residues present in the teat cups by flushing each of the teat cups with a cleaning fluid supplied via a first supply line; evacuating cleaning fluid from each of the teat cups or from the first supply line; and disinfecting at least one of the teat cups by exposing the at least one teat cup to steam and by exposing the at least one teat cup to radiation.
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23. A method for cleaning in an automated milking system including a plurality of teat cups, each teat cup being connected to a respective milk line and attached to the teats of a milking animal during milking, the milking system configured to supply a vacuum to the respective milk lines to draw milk from the teats of the milking animal, the method comprising:
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removing milk or other residues present in the teat cups by flushing each of the teat cups with a cleaning fluid supplied via a first supply line; evacuating cleaning fluid from each of the teat cups or from the first supply line; and disinfecting at least one of the teat cups by exposing the at least one teat cup to steam, the steam being supplied through a second supply line separate from the first supply line.
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24. A method for cleaning in an automated milking system including a plurality of teat cups, each teat cup being connected to a respective milk line and attached to the teats of a milking animal during milking, the milking system configured to supply a vacuum to the respective milk lines to draw milk from the teats of the milking animal, the method comprising:
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removing milk or other residues present in the teat cups by flushing each of the teat cups with a cleaning fluid supplied via a first supply line; evacuating cleaning fluid from each of the teat cups or from the first supply line; disinfecting at least one of the teat cups by exposing the at least one teat cup to steam; and cooling the disinfected at least one teat cup by flushing the disinfected at least one teat cup with a cooling fluid.
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25. A method for cleaning in an automated milking system including a plurality of teat cups, each teat cup being connected to a respective milk line and attached to the teats of a milking animal during milking, the milking system configured to supply a vacuum to the respective milk lines to draw milk from the teats of the milking animal, the automated milking system further including a robot arm with a gripper and an optical sensing device, the method comprising:
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removing milk or other residues present in the teat cups by flushing each of the teat cups with a cleaning fluid supplied via a first supply line; evacuating cleaning fluid from each of the teat cups or from the first supply line; disinfecting at least one of the teat cups by exposing the at least one teat cup to steam; gripping, by the robot arm gripper, the plurality of teat cups prior to milking the milking animal; and moving and attaching the teat cups to the teats of the animal with the optical sensing device; and disinfecting at least a portion of the robot arm.
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Specification