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Olaf Van Der Lely

Cornelis Van Der Lely

An apparatus for automatically milking animals, such as cows, which comprises teat cups for connection to the teats of the animal to be milked and separate cups for connection to the teats of the animal for the purpose of cleansing, disinfecting or foremilking the animal. The apparatus is further provided with a switching device for alternately connecting the teat cups and the separate cups to the animal's teats. Each set of cups has its own compartment for being cleaned by a fluid spray. The process is controlled and recorded for each animal or groups of animals in a computer in association with an animal identification system. Robot arms separately move each set of cups to and from the animal's teats and to and from their respective cleaning compartments, and a further robot arm has a detector such as a laser, ultrasonic sensor or camera mounted thereon for locating the animal's teats so that the two sets of cups can be connected and disconnected therefrom. While one set of cups is received by the animal's teats, the other cup set is being cleaned in their respective compartment.

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Zug, Switzerland

Olaf Van Der Lely