阅读说明：本技术 挤奶系统 (Milking system ) 是由 R·C·M·范德米伦登克 于 2018-06-14 设计创作，主要内容包括：一种挤奶系统包括一个或多个挤奶装置以及控制单元。该系统设有多个挤奶杯、用于接收挤奶量的第一奶壶、用于泵送该挤奶量的第一泵送装置、用于接收来自第一奶壶的挤奶量的第二奶壶、和用于泵送该挤奶量的至少一部分的第二泵送装置、以及用于储存该挤奶量的至少一部分的至少一个储存罐。第二泵送装置泵送挤奶量的流量小于第一泵送装置泵送所述挤奶量的流量。因此,大部分奶在低机械载荷下移动,并且与空气的混合极少。因此奶品质得到改善。在挤奶系统中有多个挤奶装置的情况下,各个挤奶量可以单独地移动和处理。(A milking system comprises one or more milking devices and a control unit. The system is provided with a plurality of teat cups, a first milk container for receiving a milk volume, a first pumping device for pumping the milk volume, a second milk container for receiving the milk volume from the first milk container, and a second pumping device for pumping at least a part of the milk volume, and at least one storage tank for storing at least a part of the milk volume. The second pumping means pumps a milk volume at a flow rate that is less than the flow rate at which the first pumping means pumps the milk volume. Thus, most milk moves under low mechanical load and there is little mixing with air. Thus the milk quality is improved. In case of a plurality of milking devices in the milking system, the individual milking volumes may be moved and processed individually.)

1. A milking system comprising: a milking arrangement for obtaining a milking quantity from a milking of a dairy animal during a milking operation, and a control unit for the milking system, and the milking system is provided with:

a plurality of teat cups, each teat cup terminating in a milk hose,

a first milk container connected to a milk hose, configured for receiving the milking quantity and provided with a closable first milk outflow opening,

a first milk line in flow communication with the first milk outflow,

-first pumping means configured for pumping the milking quantity from the first milk jug into the first milk line,

-at least one storage tank for receiving and storing at least a part of the milk quantity via the first milk line,

the milking system further comprises:

the second milk pot is provided with a second milk pot,

the second milk bottle is attached in flow communication to the first milk conduit to receive a milk volume exiting the first milk bottle from the first milk conduit, and is provided with a second milk outflow, a second milk conduit attached in flow communication to the second milk outflow and to the at least one storage tank, and

a second pumping device configured to pump at least a portion of the expression volume from the second jug into the second milk line, wherein the flow rate at which the second pumping device pumps the expression volume through the second milk line is less than the flow rate at which the first pumping device pumps the expression volume through the first milk line.

2. The milking system of claim 1, wherein the first and second milk jug have substantially the same volume, in particular equal to a maximum expected milk volume.

3. A milking system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the milking arrangement comprises a milking station with a milking robot to which the dairy animal can voluntarily visit.

4. A milking system as claimed in any of the preceding claims, comprising at least two of said milking devices, in particular milking robots, and each provided with a respective first milk jug to which a first pumping device is connected and a respective second milk jug to which a second pumping device is connected, and a pipe system via which each of the second milk jugs is connectable to the at least one milk tank, wherein the control unit is configured for controlling the respective pumping device to pump each respective milking quantity separately to the at least one milk tank via the pipe system.

5. A milking system as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising a plurality of milk tanks connectable to the or each second milk jug.

6. The milking system of any of the preceding claims, further comprising a milk treatment device in flow communication with the second milk conduit and/or at least one of the one or more milk tanks for receiving and treating the expressed amount of milk, in particular for bringing said milk to a desired temperature or composition.

7. A milking system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the or each milking device comprises at least one of:

-an animal identification device operatively connected to the control unit for identifying the dairy animal and having an animal database containing information at least about the amount and/or composition of milk of the dairy animal, and

a milk sensor device operatively connected to the control unit to determine information about the amount and/or composition of milk obtained,

wherein the control unit is configured for controlling the respective pumping device and/or the pipe system based on said information.

8. A milking system as claimed in any preceding claim, further comprising a heat exchanger system disposed downstream of the or each second pumping device in a desired milk flow direction, the heat exchanger system being configured for bringing the milked quantity of milk to a desired temperature, wherein at least one of the or each second pumping device and the heat exchanger device is controllable by the control unit based on the information.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a milking system comprising: a milking arrangement for obtaining a milking quantity from a milking of a dairy animal during a milking operation, and a control unit for the milking system, and the milking system is provided with: a plurality of teat cups, each of the teat cups terminating in a milk hose; a first milk container connected to the milk hoses, configured for receiving the milking quantity and provided with a closable first milk outflow opening; a first milk conduit in flow communication with the first milk flow outlet; a first pumping device configured to pump the expressed volume from the first jug into the first milk line; and at least one storage tank for receiving and storing at least a portion of the expressed amount via the first milk line.

Background

Such milking devices are generally known per se, e.g. automatic milking devices in a conventional or robotic embodiment, e.g. LelyAnd Delaval VMS^TMA milking robot.

A disadvantage of the known milking devices is that they are not always able to sufficiently guarantee the quality of the milk in view of their capacity.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the invention to provide a milking system of the kind mentioned in the opening paragraph which may provide improved milk quality.

The object of the present invention is achieved by a milking system as claimed in claim 1, in particular by a milking system comprising: a milking arrangement for obtaining a milking quantity from a milking of a dairy animal during a milking operation, and a control unit for the milking system, and the milking system is provided with: a plurality of teat cups, each of the teat cups terminating in a milk hose; a first milk container connected to the milk hoses, configured for receiving the milking quantity and provided with a closable first milk outflow opening; a first milk conduit in flow communication with the first milk flow outlet; a first pumping device configured to pump the expressed volume from the first jug into the first milk line; at least one storage tank for receiving and storing at least a part of the milking amount via the first milk line, the milking system further comprising: a second milk jug attached in flow communication to the first milk conduit to receive a milk volume exiting the first milk jug from the first milk conduit, and provided with a second milk outflow; a second milk line attached in flow communication to the second milk outlet and the at least one storage tank; and a second pumping arrangement configured to pump at least a portion of the milking volume from the second jug into the second milk conduit, wherein the flow rate at which the second pumping arrangement pumps the milking volume through the second milk conduit is less than the flow rate at which the first pumping arrangement pumps the milking volume through the first milk conduit.

In this case, the invention makes use of the insight that, on the one hand, the capacity of the milking system does not decrease, because in principle the same speed as in known milking systems is pumped out of the first milk container and, therefore, the milking system is vacated again at the same speed, but, on the other hand, the milk only needs to be pumped to the second milk container at an associated higher speed or at least a higher flow rate. High speed is detrimental to the quality of the milk, in particular to the fat globules described herein. Especially in larger milking systems, the milk tanks for (cold) storage of milk are often located at considerable distances. If the milk is pumped such a distance at high speed, many fat globules may break and form many free fatty acids, which is detrimental to the quality of the milk. According to the invention, a milked amount of milk is pumped from a first jug to a second jug at a normal speed/flow and then further pumped at a lower speed/flow. Alternatively, it can be said that the pump-out time of the first milk bottle is shorter than the pump-out time of the second milk bottle. The first pump-out time is in principle as short as possible, or at least short enough to make the jug available again for the next milking operation. It is desirable that this process takes no more than about 1 minute, since during this time the next dairy animal can enter the milking arrangement and be prepared for its milking by cleaning, stimulating and connecting the milking cups. The pumping speed may be, for example, from 10 to as much as 25 liters/minute. In contrast, the pumping-out time of the second jug can be as long as the average milking operation, e.g. 6 to 9 minutes. Thus, the pumping speed can be reduced to e.g. 1.5-2 liters/minute, which ensures a more gentle treatment of the milk. Not only is the milk quality still high due to less fat globule breakage, but the milk is also mixed with air to a lesser extent due to the lower flow velocity.

It is noted that in the present invention the path length to be covered under normal conditions, i.e. at higher speeds, is smaller than in known milking systems. Such a distance may for example remain limited to one meter or even less. It should be noted that it is not a problem to choose a larger cross-section than the normal cross-section of the (first) milk conduit connecting the first and second milk jug. This reduces the speed of the milk even further, however the fact that the milk cannot always fill the entire line does not lead to great damage, since this is not associated with short movements. Thus, the cross-sectional area of the first milk conduit is advantageously larger than, more advantageously at least twice as large as, the cross-sectional area of the second milk conduit.

It should also be noted that the expressed milk volume may be pumped to, for example, a milk tank to be stored there as edible milk. Milk that is not suitable for consumption (e.g. colostrum or baby milk) may alternatively also be discharged into a drain or, for example, to one or more additional storage containers. It is also not necessary to pump the entire milking volume from the first milking volume glass to the second milking volume glass or from there to the same destination. This will be explained in more detail below.

Advantageous but non-limiting embodiments are described in the dependent claims and in the following description.

In an embodiment, the first and second milk jug have substantially the same volume. This ensures that the second jug can always process the entire contents of the first jug. On the other hand, this also limits the volume of the second milk container to the necessary volume, with the result that the amount of material for the second milk container and the volume it occupies remain as limited as possible. In particular, the first and second milk jug each have a volume substantially equal to the maximum expected milk yield. This ensures that the first milk jug and thus the second milk jug can in principle never overflow. It is also possible to pump from the first to the second teat pot before milking is completely completed if the dairy animal produces an unexpectedly large milking volume, for example after a very long milking interval or in the case of a new dairy animal of a different breed or the like.

In this respect, "substantially the same volume" or "volume substantially equal to" is understood to mean that the difference in volume is less than 50%, advantageously less than 20%. It is emphasized here that the second jug is not identical to a buffer vessel known per se. The intention of such a buffer tank is to enable the milking device to continue milking in case, for example, the large-volume milk tank is exhausted or cleaned and thus milk cannot be discharged to said large-volume tank. The buffer tank is in that case used to store the milk for multiple milkings and finally to discharge the milk therefrom to the large-volume milk tank. In that case, the speed of said sequential discharge is usually in principle the same as or similar to the speed of the milk discharged from the first milk container.

In an embodiment, the milking arrangement comprises a milking station with a milking robot to which the dairy animal may voluntarily visit. Although the invention is of course also suitable in connection with conventional milking devices or milking robots with forced and thus regular cow travel, embodiments where the milking robot can be visited voluntarily provide further advantages. For example, there may be a period of time between visits by the dairy animals, precisely because of the voluntary cows going out. In such cases, it is advantageous to further adjust, in particular reduce, the pumping time. The control unit may reduce the pumping speed of the first pumping device and/or the second pumping device or extend the respective pumping time based on an expected time until the next visit determined from the historical data. Alternatively, the control unit may pump at least a part of the expressed amount of milk, e.g. at a lower pumping speed, as long as the control unit has not detected the next dairy animal using the animal detection and/or identification system provided for this purpose. Other measures to obtain a lower milk speed are known per se. All such measures may further lead to an improved milk quality. And the possibility of such quality improvement measures is especially in robot milking with voluntary cow trips, compared to milking systems with forced cow trips, in which milking has been determined to be followed directly thereafter, and thus no room for speed reduction.

In an embodiment, the milking system comprises at least two of said milking devices, in particular milking robots, and the milking devices are each provided with a respective first milk jug to which a first pumping device is connected and a respective second milk jug to which a second pumping device is connected, and a pipe system via which each of the second milk jugs is connectable to the at least one milk tank, wherein the control unit is configured for controlling the respective pumping device to pump each respective milking quantity separately to the at least one milk tank via the pipe system.

In relatively large farms, a plurality of milking apparatuses are usually provided in a milking system. For example, a single milking robot is suitable for 60 to 80 cows, and thus a larger farm will comprise a corresponding number of milking robots. The associated line system may in principle comprise a completely separate connection of each milking device to one or more milk tanks. In that case, its control is in principle very straightforward and can simply take place in parallel. It is also possible to attach the plurality or at least two or more of the milking devices to the single milk line via their respective second teats. The control unit of the milking system, or, if desired, the respective control unit of the milking arrangement, may then be configured for separately pumping the respective milk volumes to a desired destination, e.g. the or a milk tank. In this case, one or more valves, which can be controlled by the control unit(s), will also be provided in the pipe system. For this reason, it is sufficient if each milking quantity is pumped as an uninterrupted whole to the milk line, so that it is delivered as a "plug" to the destination, and there is little risk of mixing of successive milking quantities. This may be important for performing one or more operations based on the respective milk characteristics, e.g. selecting a destination for the milk volume.

It has been stated above that a milked amount of milk can be pumped to the milk tank. In such milk tanks, the milk may be kept cool until collected, for example, by a milk tanker, or otherwise further processed. The expressed amount of milk or at least a part thereof may also not be stored but be discharged into a drain or other discharge means, for example because the milk contains antibiotics. It is in fact also possible to store milk, but in a second tank. The second tank correspondingly contains, for example, milk, such as colostrum, which is usable but not suitable for human consumption. It may also be stored in one of two or more serving milk tanks based on the quality of the milk, e.g. the milk quantity expressed. In an embodiment, the milking system thus comprises a plurality of milk containers connectable to the or each second milk jug.

It should be noted here that such embodiments may achieve significant results. On the one hand, this ensures that the individual milking volumes can be kept separate from each other even in larger farms with a plurality of milking apparatuses. Milk from various dairy animals may have different characteristics. In order to ensure that the milk with these properties is used optimally, it is important that the milk (the expressed amounts) is kept separate. If two or more milking devices are to finish milking at the same time and thus want to empty the respective milkpots into the same milk line at the same time, one of the milkpots will need to wait for the other in order to prevent mixing. In some cases, this may compromise throughput. In the present invention this is compensated by the control unit only needing to ensure that two second teats are pumped out during the subsequent milking. This is because in this case the two first milk jugs can be pumped directly and simultaneously without the risk of mixing of the milk. There is then a time span available for pumping out the two second urns. Although a higher pumping speed, in other words a shorter pumping time, must then be chosen, a somewhat higher speed, still below the normal level, does not exceed the advantages of carefully treating the milk and being able to keep the (consumption) milk quantities separate.

In an embodiment, the milking system further comprises a milk treatment arrangement in flow communication with the second milk conduit and/or at least one of the one or more milk tanks for receiving and treating the expressed amount of milk, in particular bringing said milk to a desired temperature or composition. The invention takes advantage of the insight that the use of a second milk container enables very gentle handling of the milk and partly achieves this by enabling the milk to be pumped out of the second milk container at a much lower speed. This also means that the milk flow, although having a lower peak size, is more regular. This may be advantageous if the milk is subsequently processed in a coupled milk processing device. Many such milk processing devices benefit from a more regular flow of milk of this type, for example because the maximum capacity of these milk processing devices can be chosen smaller and/or because they can then generally also process milk in a more careful manner.

As described above, the invention is also well suited to enable individual milking volumes to be kept separate. The milking volumes in question may contain milk of different characteristics, which may also need to be treated differently. For example, milk from some dairy animals is well suited for cheese making due to very low somatic cell counts and/or plate counts, or milk containing specific substances from genetically different or genetically modified dairy animals.

In an embodiment, the or each milking device comprises at least one of: an animal identification device operatively connected to the control unit for identifying the dairy animal and having an animal database containing information at least about the amount and/or composition of milk of the dairy animal; and a milk sensor device operatively connected to the control unit for determining information about the obtained amount and/or composition of milk, wherein the control unit is configured for controlling the respective pumping device and/or the pipe system based on said information. The control unit may use said information to e.g. control the pipe system, e.g. its valves, in such a way that milk with known characteristics is brought to the associated destination or processed in a way associated with such milk. In this case, the information may be based on the identity of the animal. In the control unit or the device operatively connected thereto, the animal identity may be associated with information which may include, for example: milk contains a unique substance, has a certain (low) plate count and/or somatic cell count, or the animal has indeed been treated with an antibiotic, has just calved, or has a disease such as mastitis, etc. Such information is in principle historical information which may be entered by the farmer or operator, or based on previous measurements of milk or animals etc., and which will be substantially unchanged or only gradually changed. The information may also originate or partly originate from a milk sensor device, which in this case advantageously provides information about the milk to the control unit in real time. Such information may vary between milking operations, or even during milking operations, and may be of many different types, in particular having information about composition. The compositional information may be relevant, for example, indicating whether a substance is present in milk, including antibiotics, blood, increased somatic cell count, or a particular substance in genetically diverse animals. The compositional information may alternatively or additionally include absolute information such as the content of one or more substances including milk fat, milk protein, lactose, somatic cell count, and the like.

Using such information, it is for instance possible to keep different types of milk separate and to treat it carefully, with no or only a very small loss of capacity of the milking system as a whole.

For example, in an embodiment the milking system further comprises a heat exchanger system arranged downstream of the or each second pumping device in a desired milk flow direction, the heat exchanger system being configured for bringing the milked quantity of milk to a desired temperature, wherein at least one of the or each second pumping device and the heat exchanger device is controllable by the control unit based on the information. In this case the heat exchanger device may be used to cool the milk to a temperature of, for example, at most 4 ℃ for storage, but may also be cooled to a different temperature, for example a temperature suitable for making the milk into yoghurt or cheese. In a particular embodiment, a plurality of heat exchanger devices is provided, wherein at least two heat exchanger devices each bring the milk to a different temperature. Advantageously, a conduit system is then provided, having a valve arrangement which can be actuated by the control unit, wherein the control unit controls the valve arrangement based on said information to direct milk towards a desired heat exchanger arrangement of said plurality of heat exchanger arrangements. Thus, unlike other milks (e.g. milk for direct human consumption), for example cheese-suitable milk with a very low flat count can be directed to another destination and already be pre-processed.

Advantageously, the control means is configured to operate the or each second pumping means in such a way that the resulting net total milk flow from the second pumping means(s) to said heat exchanger means shows as little variation as possible. For example, each second pumping device is actuated in such a way that the pumping speed has a substantially constant value, for example based on historical average total production, including the situation of this as a function of the time of day. This is because dairy animals in principle have an intrinsic milk yield which remains approximately the same for several hours (up to 10-15 hours) after milking. Thus, the total daily yield likewise generally remains almost unchanged. In this way it is possible to reasonably predict how much pumping speed is needed to pump all milk as evenly as possible through the heat exchanger device, in order to thus achieve an effective control of the heat exchange and to rely less on the capacity of the milking device, in particular the actual milk flow currently being milked. The frequency of visits by the dairy animal to the milking device(s) may of course vary. For example, night is much quieter than several times of the day. The control unit may take this into account, for example, by changing the pumping speed also according to such a pattern and/or maintaining the pumping speed set to the maximum production during the day. However, other settings are possible. In all such ways, the control unit of the milking system may help to keep the net capacity of the heat exchanger system as low as possible. Not only is the milk to be cooled or heated supplied as gradually as possible, it is also advantageous that the control unit can also activate the heat exchanger device on the basis of the information. For example, the production capacity may be adapted to the amount of received milk that has been determined during milking and that was last pumped out of the first milk jug. Since it is possible to prevent in an efficient manner an excessively low or an excessively high capacity, the activation of the heat exchanger device is not only energetically advantageous, but also prevents the milk from freezing or burning due to excessive cooling or heating. A significant advantage of the milking system according to the invention is that further devices in the system receiving milk may be controlled by the control unit based on said information, which information comprises information about the quantity or composition, preferably about both. Thus, the control unit may set other devices for desired operation, in particular based on the composition and the amount of milk to which the treatment is applied, and as already stated above, such treatment may be performed relatively quietly, since the actuation by the second teat cup is not caused by the milking device(s) being emptied.

Drawings

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which non-limiting embodiments are shown and in which:

fig. 1 shows a diagrammatic view of a first milking system according to the invention, and

fig. 2 shows a diagrammatic view of another milking system according to the invention.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows a diagrammatic view of a first milking system 1 according to the invention. The system 1 comprises an automated robotic milking device 2, teat cups 3, a robotic arm 4 and a control unit 5 with a database 6, as well as a milk sensor 7, a milk hose 8, a first milk jug 9 with a first milk outflow 10, a first milk pump 11, a second milk hose 12, a second milk jug 13 with a second milk outflow 14, a second milk pump 15, a milk conduit 16 and a milk tank 17. Reference numeral 18 is used to designate a three-way valve having a discharge to a drain 19.

Also shown is a milking station 50 having a dairy animal 100 with a teat 101 and an ID tag 102, and an animal identification device 30.

The robotic milking device 2 comprises a robotic arm 4 for attaching teat cups 3, only one of which is shown here, to the teats 101 of a dairy animal 100. In this case, the robot arm is provided with a gripper for gripping and attaching the teat cups 3 one by one, but the robot arm may also be an arm provided with a holder on which four teat cups are removably arranged. However, such details are not important here. For control purposes the robotic milking device is provided with or connected to a control unit 5 having a database 6, said database 6 containing data about the dairy animal and/or having a space for storing data about the dairy animal, such as milk data. In order to correctly incorporate the data in the database 6, an animal identification device 30, such as a tag reader, is provided to read an ID tag 102 surrounding the neck of the dairy animal 100. The dairy animals 100 may in this case voluntarily appear themselves at the milking station 50, or may also appear by forcing the cows to travel, wherein the herd is driven to the milking station, for example twice a day.

The robotic milking devices 2, 4 may also be replaced by the following conventional milking devices: the teat cups 3 are manually attached by a milker. Although this is not important to the invention, the advantages become more pronounced in the case of an unscheduled voluntary visit by the animal, for example in the case of a robot for free cow travel.

When milking the dairy animal 100, the obtained milk will be received as a milking quantity in the first milk container 9 via the milk hose 8. Based in part on data associated with the dairy animal 100 from the database 6 and/or data obtained by the milk sensor 7 during milking, the milk quality may be determined, and based in part on this, the destination of the milk may also be determined. When the control unit 5 actuates the three-way valve 18 accordingly, the milk meeting the requirements is directed, for example, by the control unit 5 to a large-volume tank 17 for consumption milk, while unsuitable milk, for example milk from sick dairy animals, can be sent to another destination, for example a drain 19. Of course, a plurality of destinations can be provided, so that the valve device is adapted accordingly.

In order to free the milking device 2, 4 again for subsequent milking as quickly as possible, the milk in the first milk container 9 is pumped out with the aid of the first milk pump 11 via the first milk outflow 10. The available time does not in principle exceed the time required for a dairy animal 100 to leave the milking station 50 and allow a subsequent dairy animal to come in and be ready for milking. This time is in the order of 1 minute. In the known milking system, such milk is thus pumped at a correspondingly high speed through the entire milk line system to the milk tank. However, at such high speeds, the milk is subjected to mechanical stress and is well mixed with the air. This is undesirable in terms of milk quality, especially fat globules, as it results in the release of relatively large amounts of free fatty acids, which makes the milk rancid. In the present invention, the expressed amount of milk is pumped out of the first milk bottle 9 in contrast as fast, but only a short distance, in particular only via the second milk hose 12 to the second milk bottle 13. Not only is this distance much shorter than the average distance to a large tank in a conventional milking system (the latter distance easily reaching several tens of meters), but the second milk hose 12 can also be optimized for quick transport over short distances. For example, the second milk hose may have a large diameter and also have a very small flow resistance.

Any entrained air can then escape again in the second milk container 13. More importantly, however, with the aid of the secondary milk pump 15, the milk can then be pumped further to the milk tank 17 more smoothly via the secondary milk outlet 14 and the milk conduit 16. This is because the time for such pumping is, for example, about the same as the time from receiving milk from the first jug to the end of the next milking. This time is in principle at least equal to the milking duration, about 6 to 10 minutes, but may be almost unlimited if the subsequent dairy animal is not present immediately. Thus, the pumping speed of the milk through the second breast pump 15 can be chosen to be much smaller, which is advantageous for the milk quality. Furthermore, the control unit 5 may be configured to dynamically control this pumping speed, e.g. based on an expected waiting time. The expected waiting time may in turn be determined by the control unit using the point in time and/or when the subsequent dairy animal is identified to start milking the subsequent dairy animal and/or the expected milk yield of the subsequent dairy animal, and based on this expected milking duration etc.

It should be noted that advantageously a three-way valve 18 is provided between the first jug 9 and the second jug 13. After all, it makes no sense to carefully treat the milk that is not subsequently sent to the consumption milk tank 17.

Fig. 2 shows a diagrammatic view of another milking system according to the invention.

Wherein the milking system comprises two milking devices 2 and 2' and a control unit 5 with a database 6. In this case, similar parts throughout the figures are indicated with the same reference numerals, with one or more superscripts, where necessary. The milking installations operate respective milking stations 50 and 50 ' with tag readers 30 and 30 ' and each milking installation comprises a teat cup 3, 3 ', an operative robot arm 4, 4 ', a sensor 7-1 and 7-2 and 7-1 ' and 7-2 ' (respectively), a milk hose 8, 8 ', a first milk jug 9, 9 ', a first milk outlet 10, 10 ', a first milk pump 11, 11 ', a second milk hose 12, 12 ', a second milk jug 13, 13 ', a second milk outlet 14, 14 ', a second milk pump 15, 15 ' and a milk line 16, 16 ', and a three-way valve 20, 20 ' with an outlet line 21, 21 '.

The milking system further comprises a valve arrangement 22 and two milk tanks 17, 17'.

The operation of the milking system of fig. 2 corresponds for the most part to the operation of the milking system of fig. 1 when a dairy animal is present at the milking station 50 for milking, while the milking station 50' is empty and remains empty during milking. The milked milk is received as a milk volume in the first milk container 9. Based on the data associated with the identified dairy animal from the database 6 and/or based on the data determined in the milk by the sensors 7-1 and/or 7-2, the control unit 5 decides whether the milking quantity has to be discharged into the discharge line 21 by opening the three-way valve 20 or into one of the milk tanks 17 or 17' if it is suitable for consumption of milk. Based on the animal identity and the data in the database 6 and/or the values measured by the sensors 7-1 and 7-2, the control unit 5 can determine in which tank 17 or 17' milk needs to be stored. For example, a herd of dairy animals comprising one or more dairy animals with specific milk, e.g. genetically different milk, a2 milk, it is also possible to store milk from animals with a lower than average fat or protein content in one tank 17 and milk from animals with a higher than average fat or protein content in another tank 17'. It is even possible to store a first part of milk obtained from a certain milking in a first tank 17 and a second part of said milk in a second tank 17'. As a result, a second portion of milk with more fat per milking can be collected. The milk thus obtained contains more fat (milk fat) and can thus be processed into a more fat more expensive product. On the other hand, the milk with less fat in the tank 17 can be used, for example, for skim milk and/or semi-skim milk, because less fat needs to be removed therefrom.

In all cases, the control unit 5 controls the necessary components, in particular the first and second breast pumps 11, 15, as well as the three-way valve 20 and the valve arrangement 22. The valve means, although only diagrammatically shown here, comprise one or more valves and lines leading to the milk tanks 17 and 17' provided.

Optional milk processing components are not shown here, such as coolers/heat exchangers, pasteurization devices and other devices. These means may be arranged downstream of the valve means 22 and respectively upstream or downstream of the tank 17 or 17', seen in the direction of flow of the milk. When such milk processing components are placed upstream of the tank 17 or 17', a significant advantage of using these milk processing components is that the milk can be supplied to the processing device in a flow that is as constant as possible and at a low flow rate. As a result, its capacity can also be selected to be relatively low. This applies, for example, to coolers, pasteurizers, etc.

The above description applies in particular to the case in which the milking animal is present only at the milking station 50. During milking of the milking animal at the milking station 50, it may be the case that the milking animal was or is now at the milking station 50 ', and that pumping away the milk volume from the milking station 50 and pumping away the milk volume from the milking station 50' may affect each other. In the prior art, in order not to cause or to cause as little as possible a loss of capacity of the milking installation, two milking volumes will be pumped simultaneously from the respective first milk jug and in that case the only milk jug, and thus simultaneously to the milk line. Thus, the two milking quantities will inevitably be mixed. In the present embodiment according to the invention, in contrast, two milking volumes can still be pumped away from the respective first milk jug 9 and 9' even simultaneously. But in that case these milking quantities are collected in the respective second teats 13 and 13'. Thereby, the control unit 5 may pump each milking volume separately to the desired milk tank 17 or 17' while letting the other milking volume wait in sequence. The time for pumping the milking volume is here still longer than in conventional milking systems. Therefore, it is generally a small distance covered at high speed/high flow compared to conventional milking systems. In fact, it does not occur as often that two milking volumes are just ready to be pumped at the same time. More generally, after a certain milking quantity has ended, the next milking quantity is only available after a certain time. In this case, the control unit 5 may easily start pumping the first milking quantity and, when or if the second milking quantity is ready to be pumped, the control unit may increase the pumping speed in order to have enough time to pump the second milking quantity, if necessary.

An important observation is that the control unit can ensure that these milking quantities remain separate in each case. This also means that the milking volumes with different characteristics may also continue to be treated differently. No mixing is required so that an optimal quality of the milk, even per milking, can be ensured. It is therefore not necessary to accommodate individually or in small groups the dairy animals with specific characteristics. This not only is detrimental to the animal well-being of most dairy animals, usually herd animals, but also limits strength and costs in housing and other animal management.

In an alternative embodiment of the milking system according to fig. 2, a controllable connection, for example with a three-way valve and a pipe, is provided between the first breast pump 11 and the two second milk jugs 13 and 13'. Further optionally, a similar connection is provided from the first milk container 9 'to the two second milk containers 13 and 13'. Thus, the control unit 5 may for example already supply two or more parts of the milking volume separately to the rest of the milking system during milking.

It should also be noted here that, in general, more than two milking devices 2, 3 may also be provided. More than two second milk pots 13 may also be provided. It is also possible to provide more than two milk containers 17. Of course, where appropriate, associated piping and control valves are also provided. Thus, the control unit may distinguish between several types of milk, included in one milking quantity. The number of second milk pots 13 in each milking system may for example be equal to the number of milk pots 17, wherein a respective first milk pot 9 of each milking device 2, 3 may be connected to each of the second milk pots by the control unit. The control unit determines again the selection of the second milk jug on the basis of the animal data and/or sensor data of the milk of the dairy animal. It is also possible to provide that the second milk jug in each milking device 2, 3 is connectable to each of the plurality of milk containers 17 via a valve arrangement similar to the arrangement 22 of fig. 2, for all of the second milk jugs 13.

The described and illustrated embodiments are intended to explain the invention in a non-limiting manner. The scope of protection is described in the appended claims.