CLIAMS:We claim:
1. A milking machine arrangement for dairy cows, the arrangement comprising:
a teat cup assembly having a plurality of teat cups, each teat cup having proximal and distal end, the teat cups are without any opening of the shell, wherein the proximal end attach to the teat and the distal end coupled to a milk collector vessel through milk claw and collector with the assist of milk discharge tube;
a well-crow belt unit coupled to the teat cup assembly, wherein the well-crow belt fixes and holds the teat cups on the teats which is placed around the body of cow;
a pulsation unit coupled with the teat cup assembly, wherein the pulsation unit having a cylinder piston assembly to produce pulsation between the teat liner and shell of the teat cups for alternate massage and milking phase of teats with the assist of pulsation tube coupled to valve assembly; and
a peddling unit coupled with the pulsation unit, wherein the peddling unit having rocker pedal coupled to the piston of the pulsation unit through handle to produce pulsation.

2. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the pulsation produces by the pulsation unit includes two phases as vacuum phase and the atmospheric air phase, wherein the vacuum phases closes the valve assembly which creates the milking from teat through suction action, and wherein the atmospheric air phase opens the valve assembly which aids the blood circulation.

3. The arrangement of claim 2, wherein the valve assembly opens to discharge the milk from milk collector including milk claw to the milk collecting vessel through a milk discharge tube.

4. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the pulsation for milking is based on the pedal action to the rocker pedal by the operator.

5. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the pulsation rates develop in the milking is 45 to 60 cycles per minute and the pulsation ratio of the milking machine is 60:40.

6. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the rockers pedal and the handle are linked through a pivot point.

7. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein the rocker milking machine with plurality of wheels for ease of movement from one cow to the other.
,TagSPECI:FORM 2

THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10, rule 13)

“ROCKER TYPE MILKING MACHINE FOR DAIRY COWS”

Dr. John Abraham
Assistant Professor, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookode Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Wayanad, Kerala – 673 576
&
Dr. D. Dhalin
Assistant Professor, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ambalavaya , Waynad Kerala Agricultural University, l, Kerala – 673 593

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.
Field of the invention
The present invention mainly relates to milking of dairy cows and more particularly to the milking machine.
Background of the invention
Milking is well known in the art which is the act of removing milk from the mammary glands of an animal, typically cows (cattle), water buffalo, goats, sheep and more rarely camels, horses and donkeys. In general, the milking may be done by hand. Hand milking is a kind of process which is performed by massaging and pulling down the teats of the udder, squirting the milk into a bucket. Moreover, milking is a tedious and skilled job constitutes the major part of the total work in the cow shed around 50 to 60%.
There are two main methods of hand milking. Full hand milking method is performed by holding the top of the teat shut between index finger and thumb, trapping milk in the lower part, which is then squeezed by the other fingers, squirting the milk out through the orifice at the tip of the teat.
Another method, stripping is performed by sliding the thumb and index figure which is pinched shut from the top of the teat down towards the tip, pushing the milk down towards the teat orifice.
The above mentioned method has problems like-1. Mastitis due to the contamination by disease-causing pathogens, either from handling dirty equipment or from the contact with contaminated milk from infected cows.-2. Teat blocks-due to callous formation inside the teats due to constant friction by the hand. Actually the milk from the udder has to be removed by applying negative pressure as done by the sucking action of the calf which is not possible in hand milking.
There are more problems in this art, as the person should be skilled and there are many operational problems such as back pain, shoulder pain, knee pain, joint pain, finger fatigue, and various allergic problems. In addition the people who are not skilled in the art have to face operational hazards like cow kick, tail lashing etc.
The above mentioned problems have been solved by the milking machine. The milking machine necessitates the attachment of teat cups to the cow's teats, to extract the milk. The milk is filtered, cooled and then stored in a large bulk milk tank. Here the milking machines are electrically operated and cost of the milking machine is very high.
Moreover the available manually operated milking machines are not animal friendly because they cause stress by pooling of blood in the teats, damaging the mammary tissue, teat injury and pain resulting in lowering of milk yield and this is because of lack of pulsation mechanism (effect of suckling reflex of the calf). The use of such milking machine results in lot of residual milk forcing the farmers to hand milk the cows after using the machine to complete milking operation. Moreover the machines are not ergonomically designed causing operational stress and stains.
Thus, there is a need in the art of the manual milking machine to solve the above mentioned problems.
Objective of the Invention
It is an objective of the present invention to develop a simple efficient mechanical milking machine.
Another objective of the present invention is to develop a low cost milking machine that may be afforded by dairy farmers.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to improve the quality of milk by reducing contamination.
Further objective of the present invention is to develop a machine to reduce the drudgery associate with cattle rearing.
Summary of the invention
An aspect of the present invention is to address at least the above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below.
Accordingly, one aspect of the present invention relates to a milking machine arrangement for dairy cows, the arrangement comprising: a teat cup assembly having a plurality of teat cups, each teat cup having proximal and distal end, the teat cups are without any opening of the shell, wherein the proximal end attach to the teat and the distal end coupled to a milk collector vessel through milk claw and collector with the assist of milk discharge tube, a well-crow belt unit coupled to the teat cup assembly, wherein the well-crow belt fixes and holds the teat cups on the teats which is placed around the body of cow, a pulsation unit coupled with the teat cup assembly, wherein the pulsation unit having a cylinder piston assembly to produce pulsation between the teat liner and shell of the teat cups for the milking phase and rest phase of teats with the assist of pulsation tube coupled to valve assembly, and a peddling unit coupled with the pulsation unit, wherein the peddling unit having rocker pedal coupled to the piston of the pulsation unit through a handle to produce pulsation.
Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.
Brief description of the drawings
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 shows the typical milking machine.
Figure 2 shows the rocker type milking machine for mammals according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 shows the teat cup assembly of the rocker type milking machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 shows the pulsation unit of the rocker type milking machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.
Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.
Detail description of the invention
The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention as defined by the claims and their equivalents. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary. Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.
The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a component surface” includes reference to one or more of such surfaces.
By the term “substantially” it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.
Figs. 1 through 4, discussed below, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way that would limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged communications system. The terms used to describe various embodiments are exemplary. It should be understood that these are provided to merely aid the understanding of the description, and that their use and definitions, in no way limit the scope of the invention. Terms first, second, and the like are used to differentiate between objects having the same terminology and are in no way intended to represent a chronological order, unless where explicitly stated otherwise. A set is defined as a non-empty set including at least one element.
The figure 1 shows the typical milking machine 100 wherein the milking machine system 10 having a plurality of teat cups 12, 14 connected to respective teats such as 16, 18 depending from the udder 20 of a mammal 22 such as a cow. Each teat cup has a liner or inflation such as 24, 26 around a respective teat and defining a milk flow passage such as 28, 30 within the liner below the teat, and a pulsation chamber such as 32, 34 outside the liner between the liner and the shell of the teat cup.
A milking claw 36 has a plurality of inlets receiving milk through tubes such as 38, 40 connected to respective teat cups to receive milk from respective milk flow passages such as 28, 30. The claw has a discharge tube 42 connected to milk collection container 44 having a vacuum connection tube 46 connected to a source of negative pressure 48. Negative pressure source 48 applies substantially constant negative pressure (vacuum), relative to atmospheric pressure, through claw 44 to milk flow passages 28, 30.
The system has a milking cycle with an on portion and an off portion. Milk flows from the teat towards claw 36 during the on portion. A pulsator valve 50 is connected to each of the teat cups at a connection tube such as 52 and has first and second conditions alternately and cyclically connecting the teat cup to the negative pressure source 48 through connection tube 54 during the on portion of the milking cycle, and connecting the teat cup to atmosphere through connection tube 56 during the off portion of the milking cycle. It is also known in the prior art to connect the teat cup to a source of positive pressure, relative to atmospheric pressure, during the off portion of the milking cycle, e.g. by supplying connection tube 56 with a source of positive pressure. During the off portion of the milking cycle, the positive pressure or atmospheric pressure applied through connection tube 56, valve 50, and connection tube 52 to pulsation chamber 32 of teat cup 12 collapses and closes liner 24 below teat 16 to block milk flow, and to relieve the teat from the negative pressure applied from source 48 through connection tube 46, container 44, connection tube 42, claw 36, and connection tube 38 to milk flow passage 28 at the lower end of liner 24. During the on portion of the milking cycle, negative pressure from source 48 is applied through connection tube 54, valve 50, and connection tube 52 to pulsation chamber 32 of teat cup 12, such that liner 24 opens to its normally open position and milk is withdrawn from teat 16.
Figure 2 shows the rocker type milking machine 200 for mammals according to one embodiment of the present invention. The arrangement of the milking machine is to reduce time and increase/enhance efficiency of milking process. This is the simplest and cheapest manual milking machine with appropriate pulsation.
Milking machine 200 is used to harvest milk from cows when manual milking becomes inefficient or labour intensive. Milking machine 200 design and function are critical for rapid and efficient extract of milking the mammal. The milking machine 200 for extracting milk from an udder consists of teat cups 205, (includes shells and rubber liners), well-crow belt 210, milk tube connector 215, milk collector including milk claw 220, valve assembly 225, milk discharge tube 230, milk collection vessel 235, cylinder-piston assembly 240, handle 245, rocker pedal 250, pulsation tube 255, vacuum gauge 260, pivot 265 and wheels 270.
The teat cups 205 is connected to respective teats from the udder of a mammal such as a cow, water buffalo, goats, sheep, camels, horses, donkeys and the like. The teat cup 205 of the present invention consists of a stainless steel shell and rubber liner does not have an opening of the shell unlike the conventional milking machine 200. The shell of the present invention’s fabrication is completely closed. The rubber liner is relatively thin in the section that sits inside of the shell, while the liner’s tube below the shell is thicker rubber. When the teat cups 205 is applied to the teat, the end of the inside chamber i.e. liner is filled by the teat. The annular space between the shell and liner is called the pulse chamber. The plurality of teat cups 205 fastens to the teat of the mammal with the assist of well-crown belt 210. Each teat cup 205 defines a milk flow passage within the liner below the teat and gets collected in the any of the milk collection vessel 235 with the assist of milk discharge tube 230.
The milking collector including milk claw 220 is an assembly that connects the milk discharge tubes 230 and milk tube connector 215 from the teat cups 205. (Cluster assembly) Claws are commonly made of stainless steel or plastic or both. Teat cups 205 are composed of a rigid outer shell (stainless steel or plastic) that holds a soft inner liner or inflation. Transparent sections of the shell may allow for viewing of liner collapse and milk flow.
The milk tube connector 215 is the one which connects the teat cups 205 and the milk collector including milk claw 220, the milk discharge tube 230 is the one which connects the milk collector 220 and the milk collection vessel 235 through the valve assembly 225.. The milk tube connector 215 is to accumulate the milk from the teat cups liner to the milk collector including milk claw 220 and the milk discharge tube 230 is to transport the milk from the milk collector 220, through the valve assembly 225 to any of the milk collection vessel 235.
The well-crow belt 210 is the one which is used to fix and hold the teat cup assembly including plurality of teat cups 205 to the teat of the mammals. The well-crow belt 210 coupled to the belt attachment of teat cup assembly and tied around the cow to hold the teat cup assembly.
The pulsation system comprises of cylinder-piston assembly 240 which produces pulsation between the teat liner and shell of the teat cups 205. This pulsation causes alternate massage and milking phases of the teats. The main difference between the prior that the present invention does not produce any continuous vacuum it produce only alternate vacuum i.e. pulsation.
Figure 3 shows the teat cup assembly 300 of the rocker type milking machine according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The teat cup assembly 300 of the rocker type milking machine consists of plurality of teat cups 305, vacuum/pulsation tube connector 310, belt attachment 315, milk collector including milk claw 320, moving valve 325, milk tube connector 330, and milk discharge tube 335. The teat cup assembly 300 of this machine consist of stainless steel shell and rubber liner, where the shell of the present assembly does not have any opening unlike the conventional milking machine. The teat cup 305 having proximal and distal end, where the proximal end (i.e. the end closest to the body of the mammal) is fasten to the teat and the distal end (i.e. the end farthest to the body of the mammal) is fasten to a milk collector vessel through milk collector including milk claw 320 with the assist of milk discharge tube 335. The flow of milk from the teat cups 305 via the milk collector including milk claw 320 can be easily monitored. The belt attachment in the teat cup assembly 300 is to hold the teat cups 305 with the teat of the mammal with the assist of well-crow belt tie around the cow.

The present invention has a pulsation system which is produced by a cylinder-piston assembly which produces vacuum between the teat liner and shell on depressing the pedal. On the release of the pedal, it pushes the drawn air, opening the valve 325 and pushing the milk out which can be collected in any vessel. This pulsation causes alternate massage and milking phase of the teats. The pulsation stimulates posterior pituitary gland releasing oxytocin causing the myo-epithelial cells of the alveoli to contract resulting the ejection of the milk. Pulsation rate of 45 to 60 pulses per minute allows complete milking of the cow during the half-life of oxytocin (7to 8 minutes).

Figure 4 shows the pulsation unit 400 of the rocker type milking machine according to one embodiment of the present invention. The pulsation unit 400 of the rocker type milking machine consists of rocking pedal 410, handle 415, pivot 420, piston rod 425, vacuum gauge 430, cylinder piston 440, wheels 445 and pulsation tube 450.

The cylinder piston 440 of the pulsation unit 400 is fabricated on a platform with plurality of wheels 445 for ease of movement from one cow to another cow. The cylinder piston 440 is attached to a spring loaded pivoted pedal 425, which when pressed produces vacuum of -18 inches of mercury. The vacuum gauge 430 is fixed in-between the pulsation tube 450 to observe the applying vacuum/pulsation level. The vacuum thus produced is transported through an alternate vacuum/pulsation tube 450 to the teat cluster/cup assembly. The pulsation produces by the pulsation unit 400 includes two phases as vacuum phase and the atmospheric air phase. The pulsation for milking is based on the pedal action of the rocker pedal 410 by the operator. The rockers pedal 410 and the handle 415 are linked through a pivot point 420.
The main part of this machine which makes milking possible is a valve assembly, which opens and closes alternately on application of alternate vacuum/pulsation. In one example embodiment, when vacuum is applied to the assembly using any external source (e.g. rocking pedal 410), the valve shift to the ‘close’ position and the accumulated vacuum is applied on the teats through the teat cup assembly, which draws the milk from all the four teats simultaneously into a milk collector including milk claw. On release of the pedal 410, the air drawn is pushed out through the same tube which pushes out the drawn milk from the milk collector, opening the valve to any external vessel. This system applies vacuum in one phase and atmospheric pressure in another phase producing pulsation. In the Vacuum phase it closes the valve assembly which creates the milking from teat through suction action and where the atmospheric air phase opens the valve assembly which massages the teat and aids the blood circulation. Atmospheric air is admitted to the teat cups about once per second (the pulsation rate). The ratio of the time that the liner is open (milking phase) and closed (rest phase) is called the pulsation ratio.
Pulsation rate, which is the number of cycles of alternating vacuum and atmospheric air which occurs per minute, is important because the half life of the hormone oxytocin which causes the ejection of milk from the alveoli is only seven minutes. Therefore the milking has to be completed during that period. The average pulsation essential for complete milking of an average cow producing 10 lit of milk is 45 to 60 cycles per minute. The pulsation rate which can be developed in this machine by pedalling is also 45 to 60 cycles per minute.
Pulsation ratio is the proportion of time spent under vacuum (vacuum phase/ milking phase) and atmospheric air (massage phase/ resting phase). When teat is subjected to vacuum phase, milk is ejected through sucking action. If vacuum phase is prolonged it causes pooling of blood leading to pain and reduction of milk. The atmospheric air phase massages the teat and aids the blood circulation. A pulsation ratio of 60:40 is essential for complete milking of the cow, where the same ration is achieved by the present machine (i.e. a pulsation ratio of 60:40).
This system works by the rocking action of the operator which eliminates common skilled milkers health problems like back pain, shoulder pain, knee joint pain, figure fatigue and allergic reactions with added health benefits of exercise. It also eliminates health hazards of milkers like cow kick and tail lashing.
Operational fatigue: The present disclosed milking machine eliminates operational problems faced by skilled milkers are back pain, shoulder pain, knee joint pain, and allergic reactions. It also solves the further operational hazards like cow kicks and tail lashing. This machine eliminates all these problems with added health benefits of exercise. Using this machine any unskilled person (women or children) can milk 2-3 cows in a stretch.

Cost effectiveness: No operational cost.

Advantages of the present Invention:

The present invention provides easy and efficient milking of dairy cows.
The present invention machine can be easily operated by unskilled people, women and children.
The present invention is the best option for milking cows for small to medium dairy farmers.
The present invention is a solution for scarcity of skilled milker in urban area where there is high demand of milk.
In the present invention no electricity or power source is required to operate the rocker milking machine.
The present invention provides clean and hygienic milk production and it is animal and user friendly.
The present invention reduces drudgery in milking cows and it is economical compared to the available commercial machines.
The present invention may be easily operated by farmers especially woman and children with least effort to produce good quality hygienic milk. Due to the ideal pulsation rate and pulsation ratio, the quantity of residual milk after milking with the machine is negligibly small.
Those skilled in this technology can make various alterations and modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention shall be defined and protected by the following claims and their equivalents.
FIGS. 1-4 are merely representational and are not drawn to scale. Certain portions thereof may be exaggerated, while others may be minimized. FIGS. 1-4 illustrate various embodiments of the invention that can be understood and appropriately carried out by those of ordinary skill in the art.
In the foregoing detailed description of embodiments of the invention, various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments of the invention require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the detailed description of embodiments of the invention, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.
It is understood that the above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. It is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Many other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the invention should, therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein,” respectively.