The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 07, 2001
Filed:
Jan. 12, 2000
Friedhelm Hoppe, Wadersloh-Diestedde, DE;
Kurt Kimm, Gütersloh, DE;
Westfalia Landtechnik GmbH, Oelde, DE;
Abstract
An apparatus for applying at least one teat cup (,) to a teat (,) of an animal (,), which includes a sensor arrangement (,) which has at least one sensor unit (,) that can be brought into contact with a rear body part of the animal (,). To apply a teat cup, an application device (,) is provided, which comprises at least one positioning arm (,) for applying the at least one teat cup (,) to the teat (,) of the animal (,). The application device is coupled with a controller, which connects to a positioning device. The sensor arrangement (,) comprises a measuring device (,) connected to the sensor unit (,). The sensor arrangement (,) is stationarily arranged with respect to a reference position. The sensor unit (,) is designed and constructed such that it follows the movement of the animal (,), and the measuring device (,) measures the change of position of the sensor unit (,) with respect to the reference position. The measuring device connects to an evaluation unit of a controller, so that the data obtained by the measuring device are used for a coarse positioning of the positioning arm (,).