Milk quality monitoring - by registering milk electroconductivity directly as it flows during milking for comparison with one or more earlier readings

摘要

To monitor the quality of cow's milk during milking, with an automatic milking system, the electrical conductivity of the milk is measured directly as it flows through to give a value for comparison with the current or previous milkings. The measured values are only stored in memory if they differ from previous readings by a given amt. and/or it the rate of change in successive readings exceed a threshold in relation to previously stored readings. Pref. the conductivity is measured on each milking pulsation. The start of the milking operation is determined and marked by registering the underpressure, and the start of the milk flow is established by the jump in the conductivity measurement. The differences and the rate of change are set externally, and the values are only stored when they fall within a given range. ADVANTAGE - The measured values represent the significance of an ongoing or present mastitis, with a simple operation and reliable indication of any mastitis emerging or present.