Abstract: A method for milking animals, such as cows, wherein the cows enter a milking compartment where teat cups of a milking apparatus are automatically attached to their teats. In the milk conduit system leading from the teat cups, sensors are placed to measure a variety of parameters and provide data to a computer for processing and presenting the data which the computer receives from the sensors. This data includes information from a flow sensitive sensor, a temperature sensitive sensor, and a sensor sensitive to electric conductivity of the milk. Information is also provided from the milking compartment to the computer on how much food is consumed by each animal, and how many times each animal enters the milking compartment. The computer compares the data received from the various sensors with similar data from immediately preceding selected periods of time, whereby a progressive average of the relevant data is available and compared for each animal.

Abstract: A method an apparatus for automatically cleaning the udder and teats of an animal, following milking, wherein after the teat cups have been automatically removed from the teats of the animal, a robot arm moves under the teats of the animal which sprays an after-treating liquid upwardly in a fan-shaped pattern against the animal's udder and teats. The teat cups are moved away from the animal's udder and teats while they are being sprayed in a manner so that the teat cups which have been removed are never under an area which has just been sprayed by the fan-shaped pattern.

Abstract: An implement for milking animals, especially cows, automatically, is provided with teat cups. In the line system from a teat cup down to the location where the milk lines from the teat cups join, there is provided a vacuum-sensitive sensor and/or milk-sensitive sensor and/or a temperature sensitive sensor and/or a sensor sensitive to the electrical conductivity of the milk flow. Furthermore, there is provided a computer for processing and reproducing information conveyed from these sensors.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for automatically cleaning the teat cups of a milking apparatus. The teat cups are automatically removed by a robot arm from the animal's teats. Nozzles are provided which are automatically inserted into the openings for the teats located on top of the teat cups. In the cleaning operation, the nozzles are, in effect, connected to the teat cups and spray a cleansing and/or rinsing liquid through an upper set of outlets from the nozzle to clean the upper surfaces of the teat cups and through a lower set of nozzle outlets to clean and rinse the interior of the teat cups as well as the lines connected therewith. Associated with the nozzles are rotatable cleaning members for cleaning the animals' teats and udders in the vicinity thereof. Brushes and spray nozzles are provided for automatically cleaning these cleaning members after use. All operations are programmed to occur automatically without human assistance or intervention.

Abstract: A milking plant for cows is provided with a milking machine comprising teat cups, which are connected separately to the teats of an animal. The milk obtained from each udder quarter is conveyed through a separate line to a milk measuring device. The milk measuring device includes four milk meters, one for each teat cup, having separate discharge lines coupled to common discharge lines which connect with a circulation line or loop that includes a bulk milk cooling tank, a two-speed or variable speed pump, and a plurality of heat exchangers for precooling the milk received from the common discharge lines before it is received in the bulk milk cooling tank and to recirculate and cool the milk received in the bulk milk cooling tank. After the milk has been discharged from the bulk milk cooling tank and the system is to be disinfected, washed and rinsed, the heat exchangers being used in a heat pump arrangement, can heat the fluid therein as selected and desired for sanitizing the system.

Abstract: A milking plant for cows is provided with a milking machine comprising teat cups, which are connected separately to the teats of an animal. The milk obtained from each udder quarter is conveyed through a separate line to a milk measuring device. The milk measuring device includes four milk meters, one for each teat cup, having separate discharge lines coupled to common discharge lines which connect with a circulation line or loop that includes a bulk milk cooling tank, a two-speed or variable speed pump, and a plurality of heat exchangers for precooling the milk received from the common discharge lines before it is received in the bulk milk cooling tank and to recirculate and cool the milk received in the bulk milk cooling tank. After the milk has been discharged from the bulk milk cooling tank and the system is to be disinfected, washed and rinsed, the heat exchangers being used in a heat pump arrangement, can heat the fluid therein as selected and desired for sanitizing the system.

Abstract: A device for maintaining dairy animals and surface areas where they may be confined in a clean condition, and providing a station for feeding, milking and elimination of wastes which is movable as a unit. The station has a waste disposal at the rear and a feeder forward. An electronic system causes an animal to enter the station prior to waste elimination. A sensor determines the presence of animal waste. An electronic system that remotely guides the animal, comprises a radio transmitter at the station, a radio receiver mounted on the animal to guide the animal by shock or sounds to the station and/or sounds produced at the station attract the animal. A sensor on the animal's tail that signals the onset of elimination or presence of waste, may be coupled to the station's electronic system, or to a speaker near the animal's ear for producing unpleasant sounds to discourage elimination outside the station. Electronic systems are used to reward the animal after its elimination in the station.

Abstract: A mowing machine comprising a main frame has a plurality of driving units and intermediate pieces which are mounted alternately on a tie member. The tie member is under tension thereby pressing the driving units and the intermediate pieces together to provide a main frame which is substantially rigid. The driving units have cutting units with flexible hoods which are driven by a drive shaft through beveled gearing. The drive shaft is an elongated resilient rod of narrow diameter which is capable of substantial torsional displacement before its yield point is reached. The direction of rotation of each cutting unit can be reversed by removing the gear received on the driving shaft and turning it around.

Abstract: An implement for processing mown crop having a plurality of mower members and a crop processing member. The crop processing member has a hood and a carrier, to which are fitted tine-shaped elements by means of connecting members, that cooperate to process by crushing or crimping, the crop cut by the mowing members. The connecting members provide supporting walls on the side of the tine-shaped elements facing away from the side from which they are loaded during normal operation. The supporting wall encloses, at least at the upper portion of the connecting member, an angle with the tine-shaped element that permits the tine-shaped element, made at least partly of a synthetic resin material, to bend thereby absorbing the shock and lessening the potential for damage when solid objects are intermingled with the crop being processed.

Abstract: A milking system for dairy animals comprising individual teat cups attachable to the respective teats of the animal's udder, a measuring device to determine the volume of milk discharged from individual teats, a central vacuum system to aid the discharge of the milk from the teats as well as to propel both the milk and the cleaning fluid through the system's fluid lines, a cooling tank, and an array of sensors to determine various parameters of the milk and milking system, including temperature sensors, milk conductivity sensors, air-to-milk ratio sensors, pressure sensors and fluid level sensors. The sensors are arranged at various points in the milking system, including in the individual teat cups, the milk measuring device and the discharge lines, and are optionally coupled to a central computer which controls both the individual components of the milking system and working parameters of the system as a whole, including an automatic cleaning system for cleaning the teat cups, fluid lines and cooling tank.

Abstract: A mowing machine comprises a mowing unit and a crushing unit, both suspended in a first frame, the first frame together with the mowing unit (8) and the crushing unit also being suspendedeither to the leading end of a second frame which is provided with ground engaging wheels and a drawbar for connection behind a tractor,or to the lifting hitch at the front side of the tractor. The same type mowing machine is also operable at the forward end of the tractor as well as to the tractor's rear at the left or right side.

Abstract: An implement for the automated milking an animal, such as a cow. The implement comprises a segmented robot arm that can be adjusted to place a working platform in an initial position between the animal's front and rear legs generally below the udder. Mounted on the working platform are teat cups, a reciprocating rotary laser sensor, microprocessor for control, and an electromagnetic coupling device for carrying each teat cup in turn to attachment with a teat. The implement also has a contact sensor and an animal recognition system. Data provided from the contact sensor and animal recognition system provide a template for where the teats should be found. Microprocessor control of the robot arm and platform result in a two phase detection and attachment sequence for sequentially attaching the teat cups to first the rear and then the front teats.

Abstract: A spreader for spreading granular and/or powdery materials having a hopper and rotary distribution members with ejection blades on plates located below the hopper. The areas covered by the two distribution members can be adjusted so that they substantially coincide with one another. In some embodiments, the orientation of the ejection blades on the plates can be adjusted. Material flows to the distribution members through feeding means that include outlet openings and ports that can be in register with the openings. Also, displacers or closing members for affecting this flow can be positioned near the outlets at the lower portion of the hopper. A transmission, including change speed gears, can be connected through endless flexible members, i.e., ropes or belts to the shafts mounting the distribution members.

Abstract: A device for spreading granular and/or powdery material comprising a hopper for material to be supported and at least two distributing members rotated in opposite directions about vertical rotary axes, material feeding means provided between the hopper and distributing members for feeding material from the hopper to the distributing members so that each of the two distributing members receives the material eccentrically with respect to its rotary axis; the distributing members having such shape and being drivable in a manner, and the feeding means being constructed and disposed whereby in operation material is supplied to the distributing members so that each spreads material across a sector which substantially coincides with the sector across which the other distributing member spreads material. With such a device the material is advantageously spread uniformly and different materials may be spread in the same manner without the need for readjusting various members of the device.

Abstract: A shear pin coupling between two members has shear pins accommodated in a holder which is releasably mounted on a coupling member. The pins extend through holes in a supporting flange ring which is a component of the member. Resilient packing is positioned between the ring and the holder to prevent penetration of dirt to the pins. The resilience of the packing allows the holder to be tilted outwardly out of contact with an abutment surface of the member to allow removal of the holder.

Abstract: A mowing machine comprises a main frame (6) made up of driving units (36) and intermediate pieces (35) which are mounted alternately on a tie member (42). The tie member (42) is placed under tension, so pressing the driving units (36) and the intermediate pieces (35) together to make the main frame (6) substantially rigid. The tie member (42) is positioned substantially centrally of the driving units (36) and the intermediate pieces (35) so as to provide even loading of their mating faces. The driving units (36) have cutting units (8) with flexible hoods. The cutting units are driven by a drive shaft (41) through bevel gearing (46, 47). The direction of rotation of each cutting unit (8) can be altered by removing the gear (46) and replacing it to the other way round.

Abstract: A mowing machine comprising a cutter bar having rotary mowing members arranged thereabove. The cutter bar is connected for its support in two places to a carrier frame. One of these connections includes a flexible member, constituted by a resilient element, which permits relative limited movement between the carrier frame and the portion of the cutter bar that is contiguous to the connection. The resilient connection can be attached to a mowing member mounted on the cutter bar or outside the reach of the mowing members by means of an upwardly extending connection beam which is rigidly connected to the carrier frame at its upper end and is connected to the cutter bar at its lower end via a horizontal resilient element.

Abstract: A mowing machine has a plurality of drive housings that are associated with the cutting units. Each unit has a carrying shaft that rotates a carrying unit which includes a carrying arm, cutting blades, and a covering disc. The carrying shaft is connected by gearing, located within the sealed drive housing, to the mowing machine's drive shaft. When the machine is in operation, the resulting friction within the drive housing causes the lubricants and air therein to expand. A channel is provided in the carrying shaft that opens at its lower end into the drive housing and at its upper end at the top of the carrying shaft under a conically configured cup spring, into a space which is not sealed from ambient pressures. The channel thus functions as a pressure vent to the otherwise sealed drive housing and permits the lubricants and air therein readily to expand and contract.

Abstract: A soil cultivating implement comprising a row of power-drivable, soil working members supported by a hollow frame extending substantially horizontally perpendicular to the implement's intended direct of operative travel to provide selectively upwardly or downwardly directed forces upon that row via the hollow frame. A supporting ground roller is connected behind the row, its rotary axis being contained in an imaginary vertical plane. A mobile implement provides mass to exert a downward force on the cultivating implement at a coupling point which, in turn, is translated into an upward force on the frame's forward aspect by way of arms and strong pivots, such arms being turnable about the ground roller's rotary axis. The upwardly directed force assists soil-working members automatically to elevate as needed for riding over rocks or other buried obstacles without significant damage.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for automatically cleaning the teat cups of a milking apparatus. The teat cups are automatically removed by a robot arm from the animal's teats. Nozzles are provided which are automatically inserted into the openings for the teats located on top of the teat cups. In the cleaning operation, the nozzles are, in effect, connected to the teat cups and spray a cleansing and/or rinsing liquid through an upper set of outlets from the nozzle to clean the upper surfaces of the teat cups and through a lower set of nozzle outlets to clean and rinse the interior of the teat cups as well as the lines connected therewith. Associated with the nozzles are rotatable cleaning members for cleaning the animals' teats and udders in the vicinity thereof. Brushes and spray nozzles are provided for automatically cleaning these cleaning members after use. All operations are programmed to occur automatically without human assistance or intervention.