Collapsing teat cup liner with tapering barrel wall

摘要

An elongated, flexible teat cup liner (10) of an improved design which can accommodate teats of varying lengths without fear of teat damage or inefficient machine milking. The liners (10) of the invention include an apertured mouthpiece (16) adjacent one end thereof, with an elongated, intermediate barrel (18) presenting an inwardly collapsible teat- receiving region (34) and a lowermost connecting tube (20) adapted for connection to a constant vacuum source, such as, e.g., a milk claw (54). The liners (10) of the present invention have a barrel wall (36) of gradually and progressively decreasing wall thickness for creating a differential resistance to inward collapse of the teat- receiving region of the barrel. The decrease in barrel wall (36) thickness assures a relatively high resistance to inward collapse at a first location adjacent the mouthpiece (16), and a gradual and progressive decrease in such resistance to inward collapse along an axial length of the teat receiving region (34) of the barrel (18). The connecting tube (20) includes a segment (60) intermediate the remote end of the liner (10) and the barrel (18) which is of reduced wall thickness to promote bending of the connecting tube (20) under the combined weight of the liner (10) and the attached shell (12) to thereby inhibit vacuum- drawn airflow through the central channel (32) when the mouthpiece (16) is unattached to an animal's teat.