JP2009153504A - Device for monitoring lactation characteristic - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for monitoring lactation characteristics in the data control of a cow house, capable of telling the change in milking amount/milking time caused by the change of milking procedures clearly to a dairy farmer and also always performing the appropriate decision of stopping the milking even in the case of changing a milking person. <P>SOLUTION: This milking device for the tie-rearing cow house is characterized in that the milking unit comprises a first controlling unit equipped with a sensor for a milk flow rate, a memory part for memorizing milking data including the milk flow rates measured by a certain interval and a transmitting part for transmitting the milking data, and a second controlling unit equipped with a transmitting part for receiving the milking data, a memory part for memorizing the received milking data together with cow bed discrimination information and a displaying part for displaying the milk flow rates and accumulated amount of the milk from the start of milking as a time series graph form. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a milking apparatus used for milking work in a tethered cowshed or the like.

  Traditionally, in tethered cowsheds, dairy cows are moored on a large number of beds, and when milking, a milking unit consisting of a pulsator, milk claw, teat cup, etc. is carried manually or on a guide rail. The suspended milking unit was moved to the cow bed for milking. If a vacuum piping type milking facility is used, a milking unit distributor is attached to a milk tap provided at a predetermined position of the vacuum piping, and a milking vacuum is supplied to the milk claw for milking.

  Recently, it has been known that an automatic detaching device is provided in a milking unit in order to reduce labor at the end of milking. The automatic detachment device monitors the milk flow rate with an electrical conductivity sensor provided in the breast feeding tube, and displays the milk flow rate and the integrated milk amount on the display unit. When the milk flow rate falls below the predetermined warning flow rate, the end of milking is warned, and when the milk flow rate falls below the predetermined end flow rate, the vacuum is automatically shut off and the release rope bound to the milk claw is activated by the built-in actuator. Pull up to collect milk claw. Furthermore, it is also known to have a manual milking termination function for a dairy farmer to make a milking termination decision in accordance with the individuality of the cow.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-45898 discloses both a control unit including an identification unit that acquires a cow bed identification number from an identification number tag installed on the cow bed side, and a milking unit and a cow barn management device in milking a tethered cowshed. We propose a technique that eliminates the need to manually fill in a management form by using a milking data management method that transfers an cow identification number and milking data to a barn management device using an infrared unit that can communicate with the device.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-45898

  In conventional milking data management technology, milking is terminated mechanically when the milk flow rate falls below a predetermined value, but automatic termination is not appropriate depending on the milking characteristics and health status of each individual cow. There is. For example, cows that take a long time to lactate or cows with different lactation times in each dairy (nipple) may be over-milked due to delays in withdrawal, and the reverse is true for cows that have two lactating curves and two grated cows. There is a risk of withdrawal during lactation. It is desirable to delay withdrawal in order to prevent residual milk mastitis, especially in cows with high residual milk.

  However, milking machines currently on the market generally make a single milking termination decision due to a decrease in milk flow rate, and it is not possible to judge the completion of milking according to the lactation characteristics of each individual cow. May cause mastitis. There are products that allow the automatic withdrawal device to have a mode switching function so that milking can be terminated manually, but switching between automatic and manual operations has traditionally been left only to the experience and judgment of the dairy farmer.

  In the milking data management of the cowshed, the dairy farmer can clearly know the change in the milking amount and the milking time due to the difference in the milking procedure, and always makes an appropriate milking end judgment even when the milker changes It is a first object to provide a lactation characteristic monitoring device capable of performing the above.

  Further, the present invention has a second object to provide a lactation characteristic monitoring device capable of grasping the milking amount expected this time by referring to the previous milking amount during milking and making an appropriate milking end determination. To do.

  Invention of Claim 1 of this application WHEREIN: In milking apparatuses, such as a tethering cattle barn, the milking unit transmits the milk flow sensor, the memory | storage part which memorize | stores the milking data containing the milk flow rate measured at a fixed interval, and milking data A first control unit including a communication unit, a communication unit that receives milking data, a storage unit that stores the received milking data together with cowbed identification information, a milk flow rate and an integrated milk amount corresponding to each time point from the start of milking The above-mentioned problem is solved by a lactation characteristic monitoring device characterized in that it has a second control unit that includes a display unit that displays in a time-series graph format.

  The milking characteristic monitoring apparatus according to the present invention incorporates communication means capable of delivering data between control units, and milking data such as milk flow rate from the first control unit to the second control unit at regular intervals from the start of milking. The milk flow rate / integrated milk amount can be displayed in a graph by a display unit built in the second control unit, and can be installed as an additional function of the conventional milking unit. Here, the change in milk flow represents the milk production characteristics of the cow, and the cumulative milk yield represents the size of the milk yield. By referring to these data at any time during milking, it is possible to determine the optimum milking end according to the individuality of the cow. Moreover, milking can be instruct | indicated with respect to the milker with little experience, referring data.

  The milking unit further has an automatic detachment function for stopping the supply of the milking vacuum and collecting the milk claw when the milk flow rate becomes a predetermined end flow rate or less, and an operation unit for switching the milking end mode to automatic / manual, It is preferred that the milker can select a milking termination method that is considered desirable from the displayed milking characteristics. The automatic detachment apparatus further includes an alarm means for issuing an alarm when the milk flow rate falls below a predetermined alarm flow rate, and transmitting the alarm generation and milking stop time from the first control unit to the second control unit. If it is stored in the storage unit and illustrated on the graph, the milker can easily examine whether the determination of the end of milking was appropriate.

  In addition, preferably, the second control unit further stores milking data relating to past milking work in a storage unit together with a milking start date and time that is milking work identification information, and an operation unit for selecting a milking time to be displayed. And when the milker selects the time of milking from the operation unit, the milking data related to the previous milking is recalled from the storage unit and displayed on the display unit in a graph. As a result, the milker can judge whether to finish while comparing the accumulated milk yield / lactation characteristics at the time of previous milking with the accumulated milk yield / lactation characteristics during the current milking, monitoring the quality of the milking situation, and the health of the cow individual It can be performed.

  As a communication means between the control units, a wired communication system such as RS232C, 422, and 485, and a wireless communication system such as power-saving wireless, Bluetooth, and ZigBee can be used. It is preferable to use the wireless communication means. In addition, if the public data communication line such as so-called PHS (registered trademark) or FOMA (registered trademark) is used to connect to the lactation monitoring apparatus via a modem, the data can be viewed at a remote place. It becomes possible to issue a command.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, the milking unit has two automatic separation devices, a first control unit is built in each automatic separation device, and the second control unit is separately provided. The above-mentioned problem is solved by the lactation characteristic monitoring device according to claim 1, which is provided. By having two automatic detachment devices, one milking unit can correspond to the left and right cow beds. Each of the first control units transmits the unit identification information together with the milking data, and the second control unit stores the milking data in association with each cow bed.

  Invention of Claim 3 of this invention solves said subject by the lactation characteristic monitoring apparatus of Claim 2 by which communication between said 1st and 2nd control units is performed by radio | wireless. To do. By using the wireless transmission means, the risk of failure is reduced, and the efficiency can be increased because it can be received by various receiving devices of the same standard and the milking operation can be monitored.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  In this embodiment, a milking unit equipped with an automatic detaching device is installed for each of two cow beds in a barn equipped with a vacuum piping type milking facility, and these are managed by a single central control device that moves with the milking unit. In this case, a configuration when the lactation characteristic monitoring device according to the present invention is built in the central control device and each automatic detachment device is shown. FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the lactation monitoring device as seen from the passage side of the cow bed. The central control device 1 is configured to automatically travel below a guide rail G that runs perpendicular to the figure by known running means 108. A bitmap liquid crystal display unit 104, a touch panel operation unit 105, a button operation unit 106 such as a power switch, and an LED display unit 107 are provided on the front surface of the main body 100 of the central controller 1.

  A horizontal support portion 109 is provided at the upper part of the central control device 1, and the automatic detachment device 2 is suspended from the arms on both sides thereof. The vacuum tube Tv and the feeding tube Tm are connected to the milk claw 3 via the automatic detachment device 2 from the distributor D provided across the vacuum pipes V1 and V2.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the automatic detachment apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment as viewed obliquely from the front. A metal hanger 202 whose tip is bent in a U-shape is provided at the top of the main body 200. By hooking the bent part of the hanger 202 on the arm of the horizontal support 109, the whole milking unit can be milked. It can be hung at a convenient position. A touch panel operation unit 203 and an LED display unit 204 are provided on the front surface of the main body 200. Further, a grip 207 for carrying is projected from the lower part of the main body 200. The automatic detaching device 2 has a built-in lifting means composed of a vacuum cylinder or an electric motor, and a detaching rope R connected to the lifting means comes out from the lower end of the grip 207 and is hooked to the milk claw 3 by a snap hook S at the tip. It is locked.

  A connection port (not shown) on the back surface of the main body 200 of the automatic detachment apparatus is connected to the distributor D through the vacuum tube Tv, supplied with vacuum pressure from the vacuum pipe V1, and vacuum pressure and atmospheric pressure by the internal electromagnetic pulsator 204. Are alternately generated and supplied to the milk claw 3 and the teat cup 4 from another connection port (not shown). The feeding tube Tm connected to the distributor D and the vacuum pipe V2 is connected to the milk claw 3 via an inverted U-shaped milk tube (not shown) on the back of the main body 200, and the milk flow rate is reduced. The electrical conductivity sensor 210 for measurement is provided at the milk outlet side end of the inverted U-shaped pipe in order to avoid a measurement error due to the return of milk at the end of milking.

  FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of the central control device 1 and the automatic detachment device 2 of the present embodiment. Reference numeral 101 denotes a control unit built in the main body 100 of the central control unit, which is a general-purpose module having an arithmetic function, an input / output function, a program storage function, and a data storage function, and performs central control according to a control program written at the time of shipment Each part of the apparatus 1 is controlled. A large-capacity storage unit 102 and a bitmap display unit 104 are connected to the control unit 101. The touch panel operation unit 105 is an input unit for instructing to switch the display mode of the liquid crystal display unit 104. The LED display unit 107 is a display unit having a function of displaying a traveling mode or occurrence of an abnormality in the apparatus. The button operation unit 106 in FIG. 2 is an input unit such as a power button or an automatic travel instruction button. However, the control of the power function and the travel function is out of the scope of the present invention, and the description thereof is omitted.

  Reference numeral 201 denotes a control unit built in the main body 200 of the automatic detachment apparatus 2, which is composed of a general-purpose module similar to 101, and controls each part of the automatic detachment apparatus according to a control program written at the time of shipment. The touch panel operation unit 203 is an input unit for instructing cancellation of the pulling unit, start of milking, switching of a milking end mode, and the like. The LED display unit 204 is a means for displaying a selected milking end mode, an alarm when the milk flow rate is equal to or lower than a predetermined alarm flow rate, and the like. Reference numeral 208 denotes an electromagnetic pulsator, and 209 denotes an electric motor that pulls up the milk claw 3 and the like at the end of milking.

  The central control device 1 and the automatic detachment device 2 further include communication units 111 and 210 that can communicate with each other wirelessly. The communication procedure can be selected from general-purpose standards that operate with low power such as a low-power radio, Bluetooth, and ZigBee. When the central control device 1 and the automatic detachment device 2 are turned on, the communication units 111 and 210 automatically start wireless communication and establish a connection.

  When milking, first the nipples are wiped, and then the central control device 1 and the milking unit are milked from the storage position (not shown) by the automatic running function of the central control device 1. It moves along the guide rail G to an intermediate position, and the distributor D of each milking unit is mounted at a predetermined position on the vacuum pipes V1 and V2. Then, the operating means 203 of the automatic detaching device 2 is operated to release the lifting means, the detaching rope R is pulled out and moved to the vicinity of the breast to milk the milk claw 3, and the teat cup 4 is attached to each teat. When the start of milking is input to the operation unit 203, the control unit 201 operates the electromagnetic pulsator 208 at a predetermined time interval to supply a pulsating vacuum to the teat cup 4 and the like.

  At this time, the control unit 201 transmits the start date / time information acquired from an internal timer (not shown) and the cow bed identification information stored therein to the central control device 1 via the communication unit 210. When one unit corresponds to a plurality of cow beds, cow bed identification information may be acquired from the identification number tag on the cow bed side and transmitted by the same method as in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-45898. The control unit 101 of the central control device 1 records the start date and time information and the cow bed identification information received by the communication unit 110 in the recording unit 102 as work records.

  When milking is started, milk intermittently flows in the feeding tube Tm, and the electrical conductivity changes according to the amount of milk, so that milk flow rate information can be obtained from the output of the electrical conductivity sensor. The control unit 201 counts the elapsed time from the start of milking by an internal timer means, and reads the elapsed time and milk flow rate information every second. The latest flow rate is displayed on the display unit 204 and transmitted to the central controller 1 via the communication unit 210. The control unit 101 of the central control device 1 records the elapsed time and the milk flow rate information received by the communication unit 110 in the recording unit 102 in association with the previously recorded work record.

  Further, the control unit 201 causes the display unit 204 to display an alarm when the milk flow rate becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined alarm flow rate, and when the milk flow rate becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined stop flow rate (preferably 0.4 kg / min). It is determined that the operation has been completed, the display unit 204 displays an end display, and the operation of the electromagnetic pulsator 208 is stopped. Then, the electric motor 209 is operated at a timing when the pressure in the teat cup 4 decreases and is released from the teat, and the separation rope R is pulled up to recover the milk claw 3 and the teat cup 4. The control unit 201 notifies the central control device 1 of an alarm display and automatic end via the communication unit 210, and the control unit 101 of the central control device records the alarm display and the elapsed time until the end of work in the recording unit 102. After recording the end of work, the recording procedure is reset to prepare for the next milking work.

  When an instruction to switch to the manual end mode is input to the operation unit 203 during milking, the process is branched and the following manual end operation is performed. The control unit 201 does not determine the end of lactation and continues milking until the operator inputs an end instruction. When an end instruction is input, the display unit 204 displays an end display, and after performing the same end operation as described above, the central control unit 1 is notified of the manual end via the communication unit 210, and the central control unit The control unit 101 records the elapsed time until the end of work in the recording unit 102.

  During the milking operation, the bitmap display unit 104 of the central controller displays the latest milking operation data based on the input from the communication unit 110, the instruction from the operation unit 103, and the recording in the recording unit 102. . FIG. 4 is a screen displayed on the display unit 104 when the normal display mode is selected on the operation unit 103, and the graph display unit 121 is a line graph with the elapsed time on the horizontal axis and the milk flow rate and the integrated milk amount. It is displayed in the format. Further, in order to understand the lactation characteristics of the individual cow, information at the time of the previous milking read from the recording unit 102 is also displayed. The broken lines 121a and 121c represent the current milk flow rate and the accumulated milk amount, and the broken lines 121b and 121d represent the previous milk flow rate and the accumulated milk amount. Also, the previous or current alarm display or the point of occurrence of automatic termination is displayed as vertical lines 121e and 121f.

  Reference numeral 122 in FIG. 4 denotes a cow individual information display unit, which displays the cow number corresponding to the cow bed identification information and the milking time of the cow estimated from the previous milking data. Reference numeral 123 denotes a display unit for final alarm information, which displays an elapsed time when the final alarm is generated and an integrated value of milk yield up to that point. Reference numeral 124 denotes a separation information display unit that displays an elapsed time until automatic end or manual end and an integrated value of milk yield. Reference numeral 125 denotes an overmilking information display unit. When the time point at which manual milking is finished has passed the time point (vertical line 121f) at which it is determined that automatic milking has ended, the integrated value of the milk amount corresponding to the elapsed time is displayed. Is displayed. Reference numeral 126 denotes a flow rate display unit that displays a current flow rate and an integrated value of milk yield from the start of milking this time.

  The milker can move to the next milking location during automatic milking and wipe the nipple, etc., but when the end of milking is approaching, the milker returns to the presence or absence of the alarm display on the display unit 204 and the display unit 104 Check the various data displayed. If the cow is a standard individual and the graph of milk flow rate and integrated milk amount displayed on the graph display unit 121 is the same as the previous one, the automatic mode can be continued and milking can be automatically terminated. Also, in cows that take a long time to lactate and cows that have different lactation times for each dairy (nipple), there is a risk of over-milking due to delayed withdrawal in automatic termination, so the operation unit 203 is instructed to switch to manual termination mode, Early manual termination is performed with reference to the display of the graph display unit 121. On the other hand, if the cow is grated twice or a cow with a lot of residual milk, a late manual termination is performed. When over-milking occurs, a message to that effect is displayed on the display unit 125. The display on the display unit 104 can be appropriately switched by inputting a switching instruction for the right and left milking units or switching of a work day to be displayed from the operation unit 103.

  As described above, the milker can proceed with the milking work while referring to the previous and current milking data, so that the termination process can always be performed at an appropriate timing, and the milking amount and the milking time depending on the quality of the milking procedure. Changes are clear. Furthermore, even if a milker changes, suitable milking can be performed from the data at the time of previous milking, and work guidance can also be performed referring to the milking data.

  In the above embodiment, when the management is performed by the central control device of two milking units, the lactation characteristic monitoring device according to the present invention is built in the central control device and each automatic detachment device. However, the control unit having a large-capacity storage unit and a display unit can be provided in other places in the barn.

  By combining the milking characteristics monitoring device with the milking machine, milking tailored to the characteristics of the individual cow can be performed and mastitis due to over-milking or residual milk, which is currently a problem, can be prevented. There is.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the whole lactation characteristic monitoring apparatus of this invention. It is the perspective view which looked at the automatic detachment device concerning an example from diagonally forward. It is a functional block diagram of a control unit of a central control device and an automatic detachment device concerning an example. It is a figure which shows the display of the display part of the central control apparatus of the lactation characteristic monitoring apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Central control apparatus 100 Main body 101 Control part 102 Storage part 103 Touch panel operation part 104 Liquid crystal display part 105 Button operation part 110 Communication part

2 automatic detachment device 200 main body 201 control unit 203 operation unit 204 LED display unit 208 electromagnetic pulsator 209 electric motor 210 electric conductivity sensor 211 communication unit

Claims (3)

  In a milking device such as a tethered cowshed, a milking unit includes a milk flow sensor, a storage unit for storing milking data including milk flow rate measured at regular intervals, a first control unit including a communication unit for transmitting milking data, and , A communication unit that receives milking data, a storage unit that stores the received milking data together with cowbed identification information, and a display that displays the milk flow rate and the integrated milk amount corresponding to each time point from the start of milking in the form of a time series graph A lactation characteristic monitoring device comprising a second control unit having a section.   The milking characteristic monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first control unit is built in an automatic detaching device for a milking unit, and the second control unit is provided separately from the first control unit.   The lactation characteristic monitoring apparatus according to claim 2, wherein communication between the first and second control units is performed wirelessly.

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