Post by Farmer Nestor on Jan 11, 2011 14:28:21 GMT -8
Because of the high cost of dairy equipment, and having knowledge on Instumentation & Process control we at OGF decided to make a DIY Milking machine to save cost (savings is from 40% to 50% against a commercial one) and we want to share this with you all goat raisers. But first, let us have some info on how milking machine works.
The Milking Machine
Milking machines started to replace hand milking about 100 years ago. To better understand how milking machines function, it helps to take a look at the action involved in the hand milking process. At the bottom of a goats teat is an opening called the teat canal. This canal is held closed by a group of muscles known as a sphincter. When harvesting milk, the teat canal must be forced open to establish milk flow out of the teat.
Compared with Hand Milking
In the hand milking process, milk flow is accomplished by using the thumb and forefinger to pinch off the milk at the upper end of the teat as the other fingers squeeze inward and downward. The squeezing action increases the pressure within the teat and forces the teat canal open, allowing the milk to pass through it. Since the size and resistance of the teat canal varies among goats, milk flow rates will vary from goat to goat.
In the hand milking process, milk flows out of the teat because the thumb and forefinger are used to increase pressure inside of the teat. In the machine method, however, milk flows from the teat because the pressure around the outside of the teat is lowered by vacuum and the greater internal udder pressure forces the milk through the open teat canal.
Both methods have the same end result: the creation of a pressure differential between the inside and outside of the teat. This differential is needed to overcome the closing forces of the teat canal.
The First Machines
Early attempts at milking machines tried to imitate the squeezing action created by the hand during the manual process. However, these crude devices did not function well and tended to cause injury to teats.
Suction used. Suction was first used in 1851 as the basis of a mechanized method for harvesting milk.
This idea was the first attempt at removing milk from the teat through the use of vacuum and is the forerunner to todays milking machines. However, hand milking remained the prevalent method into the early part of the 20th century.
Need massage. The problem with early attempts at using vacuum to milk goats was too much blood and body fluid congestion within the teat. The wall of the teat contains arteries and veins that allow blood fluids to collect in large quantities when the teat is exposed to vacuum.
Milking machine inventors quickly learned that, if vacuum was to be used successfully, a means for massaging blood and fluids out of the teat was necessary to ensure proper blood circulation. The development of the double-chambered teatcup in 1892 and the introduction of pulsation into the milking process provided the solution.
The massaging action on the end of the teat, created by the closing of the teatcup liner (also known as an inflation), helped the blood to flow up the veins for a more normal circulation.
Today's Milking Machines
The basic principle of machine milking is dependent on lowering air pressure by removing air from the milking system. This is done by the vacuum pump.
The pulsator alternately allows air at atmospheric pressure into the space between the liner wall and the shell, then removes this air by opening a port into the vacuum system.
When the pulsator shuts off the atmospheric air flow and the vacuum level is re-established in the area between the liner and the shell, the liner opens and milk flows from the teat canal. This is the milk phase of the cycle.
During the rest phase, the pulsator allows air at atmospheric pressure into the space between the liner and the shell. The difference in air pressure between the vacuum level within the liner and the atmospheric air pressure outside the liner causes it to collapse and massage the teat.
This process of mechanical milking - milk:rest, milk:rest, milk:rest - is continued throughout the milking.
We at OGF decided to make this project to show to our co-goat raiser that it is possible, and with a lot of savings.
Materials needed on this DIY project:
1. Goat cluster (silicone type)
2. Pneumatic Pulsator
3. Household Vacuum Cleaner
4. Plastic tubing
5. 1 ½ GI pipe as your Vacuum Header plus fittings and connector
6. Plastic container as your receiving tank ( for testing purpose only)
Use GI pipe as your header if you want a multiple milking, you can make a portable one if you are only milking 1 or 2 goats but the principle of operation remains the same.
Technical Note:
Make sure that the vacuum cleaner you will use has an output of 0.04 MPA (Mega Pascal) or 11.8”hg to 14”hg (inches of mercury). This prototype is only intended for single cluster only. If you want to have multiple cluster, proper sizing of your Vacuum Main Header is needed.
For more info, you can call or you can send text on my cp. (0917 6656 385)
Here's the video:
The Milking Machine
Milking machines started to replace hand milking about 100 years ago. To better understand how milking machines function, it helps to take a look at the action involved in the hand milking process. At the bottom of a goats teat is an opening called the teat canal. This canal is held closed by a group of muscles known as a sphincter. When harvesting milk, the teat canal must be forced open to establish milk flow out of the teat.
Compared with Hand Milking
In the hand milking process, milk flow is accomplished by using the thumb and forefinger to pinch off the milk at the upper end of the teat as the other fingers squeeze inward and downward. The squeezing action increases the pressure within the teat and forces the teat canal open, allowing the milk to pass through it. Since the size and resistance of the teat canal varies among goats, milk flow rates will vary from goat to goat.
In the hand milking process, milk flows out of the teat because the thumb and forefinger are used to increase pressure inside of the teat. In the machine method, however, milk flows from the teat because the pressure around the outside of the teat is lowered by vacuum and the greater internal udder pressure forces the milk through the open teat canal.
Both methods have the same end result: the creation of a pressure differential between the inside and outside of the teat. This differential is needed to overcome the closing forces of the teat canal.
The First Machines
Early attempts at milking machines tried to imitate the squeezing action created by the hand during the manual process. However, these crude devices did not function well and tended to cause injury to teats.
Suction used. Suction was first used in 1851 as the basis of a mechanized method for harvesting milk.
This idea was the first attempt at removing milk from the teat through the use of vacuum and is the forerunner to todays milking machines. However, hand milking remained the prevalent method into the early part of the 20th century.
Need massage. The problem with early attempts at using vacuum to milk goats was too much blood and body fluid congestion within the teat. The wall of the teat contains arteries and veins that allow blood fluids to collect in large quantities when the teat is exposed to vacuum.
Milking machine inventors quickly learned that, if vacuum was to be used successfully, a means for massaging blood and fluids out of the teat was necessary to ensure proper blood circulation. The development of the double-chambered teatcup in 1892 and the introduction of pulsation into the milking process provided the solution.
The massaging action on the end of the teat, created by the closing of the teatcup liner (also known as an inflation), helped the blood to flow up the veins for a more normal circulation.
Today's Milking Machines
The basic principle of machine milking is dependent on lowering air pressure by removing air from the milking system. This is done by the vacuum pump.
The pulsator alternately allows air at atmospheric pressure into the space between the liner wall and the shell, then removes this air by opening a port into the vacuum system.
When the pulsator shuts off the atmospheric air flow and the vacuum level is re-established in the area between the liner and the shell, the liner opens and milk flows from the teat canal. This is the milk phase of the cycle.
During the rest phase, the pulsator allows air at atmospheric pressure into the space between the liner and the shell. The difference in air pressure between the vacuum level within the liner and the atmospheric air pressure outside the liner causes it to collapse and massage the teat.
This process of mechanical milking - milk:rest, milk:rest, milk:rest - is continued throughout the milking.
We at OGF decided to make this project to show to our co-goat raiser that it is possible, and with a lot of savings.
Materials needed on this DIY project:
1. Goat cluster (silicone type)
2. Pneumatic Pulsator
3. Household Vacuum Cleaner
4. Plastic tubing
5. 1 ½ GI pipe as your Vacuum Header plus fittings and connector
6. Plastic container as your receiving tank ( for testing purpose only)
Use GI pipe as your header if you want a multiple milking, you can make a portable one if you are only milking 1 or 2 goats but the principle of operation remains the same.
Technical Note:
Make sure that the vacuum cleaner you will use has an output of 0.04 MPA (Mega Pascal) or 11.8”hg to 14”hg (inches of mercury). This prototype is only intended for single cluster only. If you want to have multiple cluster, proper sizing of your Vacuum Main Header is needed.
For more info, you can call or you can send text on my cp. (0917 6656 385)
Here's the video:
