THEORETICAL STUDIES OF THE PROCESS OF MACHINE MILKING OF COWS WITH AN APPARATUS WITH MILKING RUBBER VARIABLE THICKNESS

Over the last decade, the conditions of dairy farming have undergone significant changes. A decrease in the number of livestock and the production of dairy products was allowed. Despite measures taken at the state level, the number of dairy cattle is decreasing. The decrease in the volume of milk production is sharply reflected in the level of consumption of dairy food products. At the current stage of the country's economic development, in order for domestic dairy farming to be profitable, competitive and ensure food independence, it must be highly productive. For this purpose, it is necessary to speed up the introduction of advanced milk production technologies into dairy farming based on the creation and use of competitive domestic equipment. Despite the large number of known technical solutions, the task of creating a design of a milking machine that combines high productivity and stimulation of the reflex action on the animal remains relevant. Designs of milking equipment are currently being improved mainly in two directions: - development of milking machines that provide regulation of working parameters depending on the level of milk yield; - development of designs of mechanisms of milking machines that stimulate the milking reflex without causing negative effects to the animal. During manual milking and sucking of a cow, the udder is vigorously massaged by the calves, while with machine milking, such a massage is often absent. Milking under high vacuum often leads to negative effects on cows' udders. After analyzing the designs of existing milking machines, we chose the direction of research with the development of milking rubber of variable cross-section for them. The efficiency of machine milking of cows is affected by the technical parameters of the process, the genetic parameters of the udder and milk yield, and the peculiarities of the organization of the process. As a result of the research, a new type of milking rubber is proposed for the most widely used devices of double action. This will reduce the vacuum load on the cow's udder and the shock effect of the rubber on the teat during machine milking of cows. Achieving the set goal will improve the biotechnical process of machine milking of cows.