Abstract: Apparatus and method for automatically milking animals such cows confined within a milking compartment. The milking apparatus includes four robotic arms for individually emplacing and removing teat cups from the animal's teats and a separate robot arm for scanning the animal's teats to effect a computer-controlled emplacement of the teat cups on the animals' teats. The detector includes a laser which beams through a window on the detector carried by an omnidirecting member having a four-bar parallelogram member whereby beams are both horizontally and vertically movable. A cleaning member for spraying cleaning fluid on the detector window is mounted on the milking compartment so that the fluid is sprayed on the window. The longitudinal sides of the milking compartment have spray members for cleaning the teat cups which, when not used for milking, are under the spraying members.

Abstract: A spreader comprises four spreader members which, in operation, all spread material over substantially the same sector at the same time. The two central spreader members are lower than the two outer spreader members to avoid collisions between particles ejected from the different members. The hopper has four discharge funnels, each provided with a discharge outlet, the aperture size of which is controlled by a doser member. All of the doser members are rigidly connected together so that they move in unison and open each outlet opening initially in its central part considered in a direction transverse to the spreader's usual direction of travel. The hopper is very large, having a width of between two hundred sixty and three hundred centimeters.