# Rotolactor > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rotolactor > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rotolactor.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotolactor > Source revision: 1227949059 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Machine for milking cows}} {{Infobox industrial process | name = Rotolactor | image = Melkkarussell.jpg | caption = Modern 2008 "rotary milking parlor" (Rotolactor), [Großerkmannsdorf](/source/Radeberg), Germany | type = Cow milking apparatus | sector = Dairy | technologies = Milking a large number of cows | feedstock = | product = Rotary milking parlor | companies = | facility = Walker-Gordon Laboratories dairy | inventor = [Henry W. Jeffers](/source/Henry_W._Jeffers) | year = 1930 | developer = [Borden Company](/source/Borden_Company) }} The '''Rotolactor''' is a largely automatic machine used for milking a large number of cows successively using a rotating platform. It was developed by the [Borden Company](/source/Borden_(company)) in 1930, and is known as the "rotary milking parlor". == History == The Rotolactor was the first invention for milking a large number of cows using a rotating platform.{{cite book |last=Kane |first=Joseph |title=Famous First Facts, A Record of First Happenings, Discoveries, and Inventions in American History |edition=5th |year=1997 |publisher=H.W. Wilson Company |isbn=0-8242-0930-3 |page=[https://archive.org/details/famousfirstfacts00kane_0/page/5 5, item 1056] |url=https://archive.org/details/famousfirstfacts00kane_0/page/5 }} It was invented by [Henry W. Jeffers](/source/Henry_W._Jeffers).{{sfn|Patton|2004|p=172}} The Rotolactor was initially installed in [Plainsboro, New Jersey](/source/Plainsboro%2C_New_Jersey). The rotating mechanical milking machine was first used by the Walker-Gordon Laboratories dairy and was put into operation on November 13, 1930. == Description == The Abstract of the 1930 Cow Milking Apparatus (Rotolactor) patent states:
"The object of this invention is to provide an apparatus whereby an indefinitely large number of cows may be milked successively and largely automatically..."{{Citation |title= Cow Milking Apparatus, Patent number: 1787152|publisher=US Government |location= Washington D.C. |page= 1|url= https://patents.google.com/patent/US1787152?oq=ininventor%3A%22C.+H.+HAPGOOD%22 |access-date= 12 July 2013}}
The Rotolactor held 50 cows and could produce 26,000 quarts of milk.{{sfn|Hart|2003|p=112}} After each cow received a bath, their [udder](/source/udder)s and flanks were cleaned.{{Cite journal | volume = 21 | issue = 8 | pages = 895–897 | title = Hygienic and Sanitary Features of Milk Production by the Rotolactor Process | journal = American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health | date = August 1931 | pmc=1556626 | pmid=18013326 | last1 = Hardenbergh | first1 = J. G. | doi = 10.2105/ajph.21.8.895 }} The August 1931 issue of the ''American Journal of Public Health and the Nation's Health'' described the Rotolactor as an advance in cleanliness and [hygiene](/source/hygiene) for milk production. == Legacy == The Rotolactor was featured at the [1939 New York World's Fair](/source/1939_New_York_World's_Fair) in the Borden's exhibit. The Walker-Gordon farm in Plainsboro later became a museum.{{cite web |url= http://www.raritanmillstone.org/guidebook/plainsboro.htm |title= Plainsboro museum |author= |year= 2013 |publisher= Plainsboro Museum |access-date=12 July 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110703090034/https://www.raritanmillstone.org/guidebook/plainsboro.htm |archive-date= 2011-07-03}} The farm building in Plainsboro containing the Rotolactor had an observation room to accommodate visitors, including large groups of school children.{{sfn|Hart|2003|p=112}} A 1930 film was titled: "New Jersey. 'The Rotolactor' - hygiene's latest - automatically washing and milking 50 cows at one time in 12 1/2 minutes - inaugurated by Mr. [Thomas Edison](/source/Thomas_Edison)."{{Cite web | title = "The Rotolactor – Hygiene's Latest |publisher= British Pathé | access-date = 2013-07-12 | url = http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-rotolactor-hygienes-latest }} The Walker-Gordon farm stopped producing dairy products on June 18, 1971.{{cite web |url= http://walkergordononline.com/history.asp |title= Walker Gordon farm |author= |year= 2013 |publisher= MICO Management |access-date=12 July 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090624014054/http://walkergordononline.com/history.asp |archive-date= 2009-06-24}} == See also == * [Automatic milking](/source/Automatic_milking) == References == {{reflist}} == Bibliography == * {{cite book|last=Hart|first=William |title=Plainsboro|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gmIkwunG2C0C&pg=PA24|year=2003|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0-7385-1168-9}} * Kane, Joseph Nathan (1997), ''Famous First Facts, A Record of First Happenings, Discoveries, and Inventions in American History'' (Fifth Edition), The H.W. Wilson Company, {{ISBN|0-8242-0930-3}} * {{cite book|last=Patton|first=Stuart |title=Milk: Its Remarkable Contribution to Human Health and Well-Being|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2SopCLRD5JEC&pg=PA172|year=2004|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-2876-5}} == Further reading == * {{cite journal |title= Dairy Farming History: Page 4 of 9 |author= |date=2012 |website= Elsevier Ltd. |publisher=J E Shirley, Kansas State University, Tompkinsville, KY, USA }} * {{cite book |title= The Market Milk Industry |url= https://archive.org/details/unset0000unse_d2e6|access-date= 12 July 2013 |year= 1950|publisher= McGraw-Hill Book Company|page= 130}} * Frandsen, Julius Herman, (1958), ''Dairy Handbook and Dictionary'', publisher - Torvald A. Bertinuson, p. 690 "Milking Parlor" == External links == * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lSRAXwH3AI Rotolactor - "Rotary milking parlor" demonstration], YouTube Category:American inventions Category:Industrial history of the United States Category:Dairy farming in the United States Category:1930 establishments in New Jersey Category:Plainsboro Township, New Jersey --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rotolactor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotolactor) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotolactor?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.