Teat cup
A teat cup (or teat cup) is part of a milking machine and is used to remove milk from the udder .
It consists of a cylindrical hollow body made of stainless steel or plastic, the upper end of which is open and at the lower end of which there are connection points for the short air and milk hoses. A rubber jacket ( teat rubber ) is attached inside , which has a bead at the top and protrudes over the teat cup. When the ambient air pressure prevails in the teat cup, a cavity is created between the teat rubber and the teat cup, the teat rubber closes the connection to the milk tube and massages the teat (relief phase, the milk does not flow). When milking by hand, the teat is pressed off with two fingers at the base and then squeezed out; this does not take place with machine milking. The milk comes withVacuum rhythmically "sucked out". This is equivalent to suckling a calf. The vacuum is applied through the short air hoses during the suction phase and the rubber jacket no longer interrupts the flow of milk, so that the milk can flow. Milking machines are very gentle on the cows, which also shows the susceptibility to mastitis. It is more common in hand milking. In modern dairy farms, the cows go to an automatic milking parlor of their own free will, they "like" to be milked.
The teat rubber can be made of rubber or silicone . Particularly towards the end of the milking process, the teat cup can climb up the teat, which in the long term damages the teat and leads to inflammation of the udder , but it can also slide down if the appropriate teat rubbers are not used. These problems are eliminated by an automatic acceptance system or by monitoring by the operator.
A sight glass can be located at the lower end of the teat cup so that the milker can see whether milk is flowing.
The further developments in milking technology to improve economic and animal welfare also include further developments of the milking cup.
Individual evidence
- ^ Klaus Bake: Handbook of milk and dairy technology Verlag Th.-Mann GmbH u. Co. KG Gelsenkirchen 2003 ISBN 978-3-7862-0146-5
- ↑ New teat cup , accessed on February 21, 2016