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EP-4262365-B1 - MILKING INSTALLATION FOR PERFORMING BATCHWISE MILKING OF GROUPS OF ANIMALS

EP4262365B1EP 4262365 B1EP4262365 B1EP 4262365B1EP-4262365-B1

Inventors

  • JENSEN, ROBERT
  • PALMQVIST, MARTIN

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20211214

Claims (9)

  1. A milking installation configured to perform batchwise milking of a group of animals (GA) per batch, the milking installation comprising: a set of milking robots (RR1; RR3) adjoining an enclosure (120) for the group of animals (GA) from which enclosure (120) individual animals in the group of animals (GA) are provided access to each milking robot (R 11 , ..., R 52 ; R 111 , ..., R 136 ) in the set of milking robots (RR1; RR3) on a voluntary basis, and a movable barrier (110) configured to move in a first direction (D1) over the enclosure (120) so as to compel the individual animals in the group of animals (GA) to move in the first direction (D1) relative to the set of milking robots (RR1; RR3), wherein the milking robots (R 11 , ..., R 52 ; R 111 , ..., R 136 ) in the set of milking robots (RR1; RR3) are arranged along at least one straight line (L1; L11, L12, L13) and the movable barrier (110) is configured to take different positions at the enclosure (120) so as to in at least one of said positions prevent the individual animals in the group of animals (GA) from reaching at least one milking robot (R 11 , ..., R 52 ; R 111 , ..., R 136 ) in the set of milking robots (RR1; RR3), wherein the movable barrier (110) extends across a full width (W) of the enclosure (120), and in a first position (P11, P31), the movable barrier (110) is configured to prevent the individual animals in the group of animals (GA) from exiting the enclosure (120) without passing one of the milking robots (R 11 , ..., R 52 ; R 111 , ..., R 136 ) in the set of milking robots (RR1; RR3), wherein in a second position (P12, P32), the movable barrier (110) is configured to prevent the individual animals in the group of animals (GA) from accessing a first subset (R 11 , ..., R 22 ; R 111 , R 112 , R 135 , R 136 ) of the set of milking robots (RR1; RR3), the second position (P12, P32) being located downstream of the first position (P11, P31) with respect to the first direction (D1), wherein in a third position (P13, P33), the movable barrier (110) is configured to prevent the individual animals in the group of animals (GA) from accessing a second subset (R 11 , ..., R 42 ; R 111 , ..., R 115 , R 132 ... , R 136 ) of the set of milking robots (RR1; RR3), which second subset comprises the first subset, and which third position (P13, P33) is located downstream of the second position (P12, P32) with respect to the first direction (D1), and wherein a complementary set (R 51 , R 52 ; R 121 , R 122 ) to the second subset of the set of milking robots (RR1; RR3) comprises at least one milking robot (R 51 , R 52 ; R 116 , R 121 , R 122 , R 131 ) that is located downstream of the movable barrier (110) when the movable barrier (110) takes the third position (P13, P33) and that is configured to process extracted milk according to a special routine different from a standard routine applied by the milking robots in the second subset to process extracted milk.
  2. The milking installation according to claim 1, wherein the special routine involves at least one of: taking a milk sample for analysis, and forwarding the extracted milk to a storage tank physically separated from a storage tank to which the extracted milk is forwarded according to the standard routine.
  3. The milking installation according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the movable barrier (110) is configured to move in a second direction (D2) over the enclosure (120), which second direction (D2) is opposite to the first direction (D1).
  4. The milking installation according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the movable barrier (110) is configured to be raised to an elevated position (P e ); and when the movable barrier (110) is raised to the elevated position, the individual animals in the group of animals (GA) are allowed pass freely under the movable barrier (110).
  5. The milking installation according to claims 3 and 4, wherein the movable barrier (110) is configured to move in the second direction (D2) over the enclosure (120) when the movable barrier (110) is raised to the elevated position (P e ).
  6. The milking installation according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the movable barrier (110) is configured to be moved in the first direction (D1) in response to at least one of manual handling by an operator and an automatic action effected by a drive mechanism.
  7. The milking installation according to any one of the preceding claims comprising an exit passage (310) connected to each milking robot (R 11 , ..., R 52 ; R 111 , ..., R 136 ) in the set of milking robots (RR1; RR3), which exit passage (310) allows the individual animals in the group of animals (GA) to leave the milking robots after completed milk extraction without re-entering the enclosure (120).
  8. The milking installation according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the enclosure (120) is connected to at least one stall area (411, 412, 413, 414) so as to allow animals to pass from the at least one stall area (411, 412, 413, 414) to the enclosure (120).
  9. The milking installation according to claims 7 and 8, wherein the exit passage (310) is further connected to the at least one stall area (411, 412, 413, 414) so as to allow the group of animals (GA) to move to the at least one stall area (411, 412, 413, 414) after having completed milk extraction via the set of milking robots (RR1; RR3).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a milking installation configured to perform batchwise milking of one group of animals per batch. BACKGROUND Cows may be milked in milking parlors housing several milking stalls and associated milking equipment. Typically, the cows are admitted into the parlor in batches and occupy respective stalls during milking. The stalls are usually stationary although there are also known rotary or carousel milking installations in which the stalls are located on a platform which is rotated continuously so that cows can enter respective stalls at an entrance location and be milked whilst being conveyed around on the platform to an exit location where the milked cows can leave the rotating platform. As an alternative to the above, fully automatic robotic milking systems exist, wherein cows can, at their own volition, enter a milking stall where they can be supplied some feed stuff and can be milked without any direct human supervision of the milking process. These robotic milking systems can indeed be very efficient. However, it has been found that cow behavior, e.g. due to the herd hierarchy and pecking order, and the time taken for cows to reach or to be brought to the vicinity of the milking stall can sometimes interfere with the efficient operation of the milking installation and reduce its capacity in terms of the number of milkings achieved per day. Therefore, a milking installation where milking is performed on a fully voluntary basis may not be optimal. WO 2008/003341 reveals a milking installation that includes a rotary platform for transporting animals to fully automated milking stalls. The animals are allowed to board the rotating platform at a loading zone and to disembark the platform at an available milking stall under the control of gates located around the platform. EP 3 214 923 shows a device for automatically milking fluid from udders of animals of a herd of cows in a time-specifiable manner. The device contains a plurality of milking robots arranged on a base for automatically milking animals, wherein each milking robot has an inlet and an outlet and a milking cluster that can be automatically attached to the udder of an animal. The device further comprises a fenced waiting area located upstream of the inlets of the milking robots for the animals of a herd to be milked, wherein the waiting area has an entrance for manually delivering the animals to the waiting area. The device has an animal driver unit for automatically herding animals located in the waiting area to the inlets of respective milking robots that are becoming available. US 2006/249083 A1 and WO 2020/236066 A1 disclose milking installations where the cows are compelled by a movable barrier to move towards milking robots. Thus, solutions are known, which aim at using the milking equipment in an efficient manner. However, there is room for further enhancement of the utilization of the milking robots. SUMMARY The object of the present invention is therefore to offer a solution that solves the above problem and enables an improved throughput of milking animals per unit time for a given set of milking robots. According to the invention, the object is achieved according to claim 1 by a milking installation configured to perform batchwise milking of one group of animals per batch. The milking installation includes a set of milking robots, an enclosure and a movable barrier. The set of milking robots adjoins the enclosure, which is configured to keep the group of animals, and from which enclosure individual animals in the group of animals are provided access to each milking robot in the set of milking robots on a voluntary basis. The movable barrier is configured to move in a first direction over the enclosure so as to compel the individual animals in the group of animals to move in the first direction relative to the set of milking robots. The milking robots in the set of milking robots are arranged along at least one straight line and the movable barrier is configured to take different positions at the enclosure so as to in at least one of these positions prevent the individual animals in the group of animals from reaching at least one milking robot in the set of milking robots. The above milking installation is advantageous because it renders it straightforward to steer the milking animals in a manner that results in a high overall utilization of the milking robots. Namely, the movable barrier may encourage individual animals to go towards certain milking robots, for example to increase the throughput, or to have the animals milked by a specific subset of milking robots. The movable barrier also allows for a new group of animals to enter the enclosure without mixing with the group which is already there, and thus reduce a total vacancy time in the milking robots. Moreover, by avoiding mixing of groups in the enclosure, the overall stress level of the animals can be kept relatively low because n