JP2003088263A - Individual environment-controlled breeding device for test animal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dissolve difficulty in changing floor mats conventionally done manually with many workers by simplifying the work of changing the floor mats as much as possible. SOLUTION: This breeding device is provided by installing multiple stages of shelves 2 at rack 1 and multiple rows of cages 3 for each of the shelves 2 as demountable, arranging a floor net for supporting animals in each of the cages 3 and constituting the lower surface of each of the cages and a bottom member 4 so as to become freely attachable and detachable manually.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a mouse, a rat,
The present invention relates to a breeding device for experimental animals such as guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs and miniature pigs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Laboratory animals are bred and managed in the fields of genetic manipulation experiments and experiments in which bacteria or viruses are planted to cause infection. There, breeding of experimental animals
In addition to the facilities such as breeding equipment required for management, many humans are required for the normal breeding of experimental animals and they are routinely managed. For example, replacement of bedding material is an important and essential work for managing hygiene, but conventionally, replacement of bedding material has been performed manually by taking out each breeding room. However, the number of breeding rooms for experiments is usually large, and it takes a lot of manpower to replace the bedding. Therefore, it has been eager among the parties concerned that the work of exchanging the bedding in the breeding room can be performed with as little human labor as possible. Even in the existing micro-isolation device disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 5,165,362, replacement of bedding material must be done manually for each cage. Further, it has been desired that air can be supplied to and exhausted from each cage evenly, and that the inside of the supply and exhaust ducts can be easily washed in order to protect the breeding animals from infection with harmful microorganisms. Furthermore, it has been desired to constantly carry out monitoring to promptly detect infection of harmful animals such as harmful microorganisms in the caged animals.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to replace a bedding as easily as possible in a laboratory animal breeding apparatus. , It is to eliminate the difficulty of manually replacing the bedding by a large number of people. In addition, the purpose of the present invention is to prevent infection of laboratory animals by human-derived microorganisms by drastically reducing human intervention.
It also aims to equalize air supply and exhaust to each cage. Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to easily clean the inside of the air supply and exhaust ducts to eliminate contamination by harmful microorganisms and to prevent infection of domestic animals. Furthermore, even if a domestic animal is infected with harmful microorganisms, the aim is to detect and deal with it early by monitoring.

[0004]

According to the invention described in claim 1, the above object is a breeding apparatus in which a rack is provided with a plurality of shelves and a plurality of rows of cages are detachably provided for each shelf. Therefore, an individual environment control breeding device for experimental animals (hereinafter simply referred to as “experimental animal "Rearing device" or "rearing device"). Further, in the invention according to claim 2, the bottom member is configured to be movable toward and away from the lower surface of each cage by moving in the vertical direction. In the invention according to claim 3, the air supply and exhaust ducts for each cage are provided with a plurality of branch pipes arranged in the vertical direction, and horizontally arranged from each branch pipe. It is configured to include a branch pipe connected to. The invention according to claim 4 is configured such that a part of the air supply and exhaust duct can be opened and closed or can be removed. Further, the invention according to claim 5 is configured so as to be provided with means for monitoring the infection of the laboratory animals in the cage, such as microorganisms.

[0005]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a laboratory animal breeding apparatus according to the present invention. Multiple racks 2 are provided in one rack 1, and multiple rows of cages 3 are installed on each rack. For example, in the case of a mouse, several animals are usually housed together in each cage 3 depending on the size of the animal. The cage 3 is supported by the shelf 2 and can be removed. Each cage 3 is provided with an air supply port, an exhaust port, a water supply port, and a feeding / bed bedding input port, and the breeding environment in each cage 3 is controlled. Each cage 3 has a closed structure, and an animal inside breathes and drinks drinking water through the air supply, exhaust, and water supply ports. Further, the exhaust from each cage 3 is prevented from being mixed into the other cages 3 to prevent a mass infection. The arrangement and connection of the air supply ducts and the exhaust ducts of the entire rack 1 are particularly vertical so that the inside of the ducts can be easily cleaned, which is preferable.

A floor net for supporting animals is arranged in each cage 3, and the floor net is detachably supported by the cage 3. In addition, there is a bedding insertion opening at the top of each cage 3, from which a material for bedding, such as sawdust, is dropped and supplied into the cage. Further, a bottom member 4 is arranged under each cage row, and is usually in close contact with the bottom surface of each cage 3. The bottom surface of each cage 3 is open, and the bottom member 4 closes the bottom of each cage 3 in a sealed state. The bedding material is supplied from the supply unit into the cage 3, and is deposited on the bottom member 4 and partly also on the floor net to form an animal bedding. The cage 3 may be made of metal or resin. The shape is not particularly limited except that the bottom surface is empty.

By the way, the bottom member 4 is composed of, for example, a stainless bottom plate on which paper is placed. This bottom plate is formed to have a size capable of covering the bottom surface of each cage 3 which is arranged in a row, and as described above, the bottom plate is normally in contact with the bottom surface of each cage 3 and
Is sealed. Under the bottom plate, wheels 5 are attached to a plurality of longitudinal positions on both sides of the bottom plate, and fixed rails 6 are attached to the upper portions of the shelves 2 in correspondence with the positions of the wheels 5. ing. Each wheel 5 of the bottom plate rides on the ridge 6a of the fixed rail 6 having the ridge 6a (the top is flat) and the slopes 6b on both sides thereof, and as described above, the bottom plate is placed on the bottom face of each cage 3. They are in close contact.

A handle or the like is provided at one end of the bottom member 4 so that the bottom member 4 can be easily operated by pulling out or returning the bottom member 4 to the original position. When pulled out in the longitudinal direction, each wheel 5 descends from the ridge 6a of the fixed rail 6 along the slope 6b, and the entire bottom plate is lowered by that amount. Therefore, the bottom plate is separated from the bottom surface of each cage 3 and is not in contact. This is the state (see FIG. 2B). Then, when the pulled out bottom member 4 is returned to the original position again, the wheels 5 ride up from the slope 6b of the fixed rail 6 to the mountain 6a, and the whole bottom plate rises up. The contact state is established (see FIG. 2A). A stopper 6c is provided on the ridge 6a of the fixed rail 6 on the innermost side (right side in FIG. 2) to serve as a stopper when the pulled-out bottom member 4 is returned to its original position.

By the way, when exchanging bedding, the bottom member 4 is pulled out to the front, and at the same time, the entire bottom plate is lowered by a certain distance. Therefore, at this time, the bedding accumulated in the cages 3 at that time. The material falls on the bottom member 4 apart from the bottom surface of the cage. Then, a cleaning device as shown in FIG. 3 is installed on the side of the rack 1, and the cleaning device is
A roll paper 8, a cutter 9, a waste collection box 10, a support stand 7 for these, a lifting device for moving the support stand 7 in the cleaning rack 12 in the vertical direction, and a handle 11 thereof.
Is equipped with. As described above, the bottom member 4 is configured by arranging paper on the bottom plate, and this paper is supplied after being cut into a predetermined length from a roll. In the present embodiment, the roll paper 8 is installed in the cleaning device as described above, the position of the roll paper 8 can be raised and lowered by operating the handle 11, and the roll paper 8 can be moved up and down according to the position of the bottom member 4 to be cleaned. become.

In the above cleaning apparatus, the roll paper 8 and the waste collection box 10 are moved up and down to each stage of the rack 1 by the handle 11 to collect the waste. Explaining the cleaning method, first, the main body air supply device (blower) and the exhaust device are set to the cleaning mode (supply air is at a high level and exhaust is stopped) to maintain the atmosphere in the cage 3 in a clean state. Next, for example, the washing part is aligned with the uppermost stage of the rack 1. Here, as described above, the bottom member 4 is lowered, the paper on the bottom plate is pulled out to one side, and the paper, the floor covering, the excrement, etc. are discarded in the waste collection box 10. Then, a new paper is pulled out from the roll paper 8 and laid on the bottom plate, and the end is cut by the cutter 9. Then, the bottom member 4 laid with this paper is raised. Perform the same operation by adjusting the cleaning site to the next stage. In this way, after the cleaning (paper exchange) of all the stages is completed, the main body air supply device and the exhaust device are set to the normal mode (both the supply air and the exhaust air are at the middle level)
Return to.

If the paper laid on the bottom plate gets stuck to the bottom plate when it gets wet with excrement, it may be difficult to pull out the paper during cleaning. It can also be formed. Further, instead of moving the waste collection box 10 up and down by operating the handle, it is possible to move the waste collection box 10 step by step by a person.

After cleaning, the cage 3 is supplied with new bedding material. During this time, the animals in the cage 3 are supported by the floor net. INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the present invention is a barrier system that maintains a clean atmosphere in each cage 3 and protects experimental animals from contamination with microorganisms and the like, and enables floor change in the cage 3 by a simple method. It is the one. As another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, roll paper 8a, ..., 8f may be arranged for each stage of the rack 1.

In the above-described embodiment, the bottom member 4 has the paper laid on the bottom plate. However, without using the paper on the bottom plate, the dirt collected on the bottom plate is directly scraped out by using a wiper. The same action can be achieved by collecting the waste in the waste collection box 10. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the bottom member 4 moves up and down so that the bottom surface and the bottom plate of each cage 3 can freely come into contact with and separate from each other. However, by moving the cage 3 up and down, each cage similarly. It is also possible to make the bottom surface of 3 and the bottom plate freely contactable and separable.

Further, the baits are individually fed by a feeding device having a sealable structure as shown in FIG. The food is aseptically processed in advance and stored in a feeding device. In the case of the structure shown in FIG. 5, after the bait is weighed to a certain amount by the drum portion 23, it is carried to the lower supply port, the supply port 24 is opened by its own weight, and the food is supplied into the cage 3.

Next, the structure of the air supply and exhaust ducts in the breeding apparatus of the present invention will be described. 6A is a front view showing the overall configuration of the apparatus, FIG. 6B is a left side view thereof,
(C) is the top view. 7A is a rear view showing the overall configuration of the apparatus, and FIG. 7B is a right side view thereof. Figure 8
Is a perspective view showing a branch pipe structure of the air supply and exhaust ducts, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a connecting structure of the branch pipes. FIG. 10A is a rear view of an essential part showing a flow of air supply on the rear surface of the rack, and FIG. 10B is a plan view of the essential part. FIG. 11A is a rear view of a main part showing the flow of exhaust gas on the back surface of the rack, and FIG. 11B is a plan view of the main part. 12A is a sectional view of the air supply device, FIG. 12B is an external view thereof, and FIG.
Is a cross-sectional view of the exhaust device, and (b) is an external view thereof.

An air supply port 39 from the air supply device is provided at the top of the rack.
Is provided, a main air supply pipe 47 is horizontally provided so as to face the air supply port 39, and a plurality of vertical branch pipes 41, ..., 42 are attached below the main air supply pipe 47. Then, a plurality of branch pipes 43 and 44 are attached from each branch pipe in the horizontal direction, and the tips of the branch pipes 43 and 44 are connected to the air supply port or the exhaust port of each cage 3. The branch pipes 41 for air supply and the branch pipes 42 for exhaust air are alternately arranged (see FIG. 8 and the like), and the branch pipes 4 attached to the branch pipes 41 for air supply are attached.
3 is connected to the air supply port of each cage 3, and a branch pipe 4 for exhaust
The branch pipe 44 attached to the 2 is connected to the exhaust port of each cage 3. The tip end portion of the branch pipe 43 on the cage connection side is provided with a small-diameter stainless pipe 43b (a stainless pipe is used here, but a resin pipe or the like may be used) and packing 43a or the like to ensure airtightness at the time of connection. There is. Therefore, each cage 3 is connected to two branch pipes 41 and 42 for air supply and exhaust, respectively. In addition, in the plurality of branch pipes 43 provided in the vertical direction of the branch pipe 41 for air supply, each cage 3 in the vertical direction is
In order to equalize the amount of air supplied to the pipes, it is possible to appropriately reduce the diameter of the lower branch pipe (reduce the diameter).

Air is supplied from the air supply port 39 to the main air supply pipe 47.
To the upper portion of each branch pipe 41 for air supply, and in the middle of flowing from the top to the bottom in each branch pipe 41, the air is supplied into each cage 3 through each branch pipe 43. The arrows in FIG. 10 indicate the flow of air supply. Then, the exhaust gas from each cage 3 passes through the branch pipes 44 and enters the respective exhaust branch pipes 42, and flows downward in the respective branch pipes 42. The exhaust gases from the respective branch pipes 42 ... The exhaust of each cage 3 is gathered together by the pipe 48 and is sent upward together again, and the exhaust port 40 of the upper part
More discharged. The arrow in FIG. 11 indicates the flow of exhaust gas. An air supply device is provided in the air supply port 39, and the exhaust port 40 is provided.
An exhaust device is attached to each of the above, and this air supply device 49 is configured by combining a fan 50, an ultra-high performance filter (HEPA filter) 51 and a pre-filter (coarse filter) 52 from the bottom as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 13, the exhaust device 53 is attached to the pre-filter 5 from below.
2. It is configured by combining the ultra-high performance filter 51 and the fan 50.

With the above-described structure of the air supply and exhaust ducts, the air supply and exhaust to each cage 3 can be equalized. When replacing the bedding, the entire bottom plate lowers by a certain distance, creating a gap with the bottom of the cage.At this time, increase the air supply amount from the air supply duct to each cage to adjust the inside of the cage. Is preferred because it is maintained in a clean air environment. In addition, the water supply to each cage 3 is performed by the water supply pipe 46.
More water supply nozzle 45 is used. Here, the configuration of the cage 3 will be further supplemented. 14A is a side view of the upper part of the cage, and FIG. 14B is a side view of the other. FIG. 15 is a side view showing the water supply port at the bottom of the cage, FIG. 16A is a view showing the structure of the air supply port and the exhaust port to the cage, and FIG. 16B is a plan sectional view thereof. Also, FIG.
7 (a) is a diagram showing a feeding opening structure for a cage, and FIG. 7 (b) is a side sectional view thereof.

As shown in FIG. 14, a lid 54 is placed on the top of each cage 3 so as to maintain the airtightness.
The above-described air supply port 55 and exhaust port 56 are provided on one side surface of the lid 54, and a feeding / bedbed input port 57 is provided on the other side surface. Furthermore, one side of each cage 3 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a water supply port 58 is provided. As shown in FIG. 16, the air supply port 55 and the exhaust port 56 are covered with a cover 5 which is always biased by a coil spring 59 in a closing direction.
5a and 56a are attached to the branch pipe 4 described above.
It is configured to be set by pushing in 3, 44. In addition, FIG.
As shown in, a cover 57a is attached which is always biased by a coil spring 60 in a closing direction, and the cover 57a is pushed inward for feeding.

Next, the cleaning of the air supply and exhaust ducts will be described. The breeding apparatus of the present invention is configured so that the air supply and exhaust ducts can be washed. For example, as shown in FIG. 18, a part of the main air supply pipe 47 can be opened and closed by providing a lid 63 that can be fixed at one end by a hinge 61 and fixed at the other end by a metal fitting 62.
The lid 63 is opened, and wash water (clean water) or the like is poured from above to wash the inside of each duct. After washing and drying, the lid 63 is closed to keep the airtightness. Further, as shown in FIG. 19, the branch pipes can be removed and cleaned by adopting a joining structure in which the upper and lower ends of the vertical branch pipes 41, 42, ... Can be removed. When the branch pipe is, for example, a square duct, the flange 64 has a bolted structure, and when the branch pipe is a round duct, the flange 64 has a hinge fixing structure. In this case, it is more preferable to clean the inside of the duct with high-pressure water, steam, a disinfectant, or the like.

As described above, by constructing the air supply and exhaust ducts so that they can be easily and sufficiently cleaned, it is possible to prevent contamination of harmful microorganisms and the like. Next, monitoring of harmful microorganisms will be described. As shown in FIG. 20, the breeding apparatus of the present invention is provided with a collecting unit 66 for monitoring microorganisms or the like in an exhaust unit 65 where exhaust gas from all cages 3 in a rack 1 collects, and collects a sample thereof. It is possible to constantly monitor by analyzing with an analyzer for microorganisms. The exhaust unit 65 is, for example, in front of the exhaust unit 53 described above, and a filter for collection, for example, is installed here by a known appropriate means. In this case, depending on the flow of exhaust gas (depending on the piping structure), it may be installed at the end as shown in FIG.
It can be installed in the central part as shown in (b). As another embodiment, a small-diameter bypass duct is attached to the exhaust collecting section 65, a collecting section for microorganisms is provided in the bypass duct section, and the sample is collected and analyzed by an analyzing apparatus for microorganisms. Is also possible.

By the way, as described above, when bacteria and viruses are monitored from the exhaust of all cages, the bacteria are placed in a broth and incubated for 24 hours, and then the supernatant is spread on various selective media for 24-48 hours. Incubate. Examine various selected media. For viruses, the filter is washed with sterilized water, the water is centrifuged, and the precipitate is inspected by the PCR method or the like. The PCR method is a method in which a very small amount of DNA is amplified several million times and detected using the DNA polymerase chain reaction. In this way, by collecting at the position where the exhaust from each cage gathers, even if any animal is infected, by collecting the microorganisms etc. from the exhaled breath or dust discharged from the atmosphere, it is possible to infect early Can monitor.

[0023]

As described in detail above, according to the experimental animal breeding apparatus of the present invention, the labor required for replacing the bedding, which conventionally required a lot of manpower, can be greatly reduced. Further, by significantly reducing human intervention, it is possible to prevent infection of laboratory animals by human-derived microorganisms and the like. Further, unlike the conventional manual floor replacement work, it is not necessary to make the entire breeding room for accommodating the breeding device into an ultra-clean space, and there are effects such as energy saving and equipment cost reduction. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the variation in the air quality environment in the cage by equalizing the air supply and exhaust to each cage, and it is possible to realize a good environment suitable for raising experimental animals. Further, according to the present invention, since the inside of the air supply and exhaust duct can be easily and sufficiently cleaned, it is possible to prevent the breeding animal from being infected by harmful microorganisms. Furthermore, according to the present invention, even if a breeding animal is infected with harmful microorganisms or the like, it can be detected and dealt with early by performing constant monitoring.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a laboratory animal breeding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of essential parts showing a contacting / separating structure between each cage and the bottom member.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a cleaning device.

FIG. 4 is a view showing another embodiment of the experimental animal breeding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the feeding device.

FIG. 6A is a front view showing the overall configuration of the apparatus, and FIG.
Is a left side view thereof, and (c) is a plan view thereof.

FIG. 7 (a) is a rear view showing the overall configuration of the apparatus, (b).
Is a right side view thereof.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a branch pipe structure of air supply and exhaust ducts.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a connection structure between a branch pipe and a branch pipe.

FIG. 10A is a rear view of a main portion showing a flow of air supply on the back surface of the rack, and FIG. 10B is a plan view of the main portion.

FIG. 11A is a rear view of a main part showing the flow of exhaust gas on the back surface of the rack, and FIG. 11B is a plan view of the main part.

12A is a cross-sectional view of the air supply device, and FIG. 12B is an external view thereof.

13A is a cross-sectional view of the exhaust device, and FIG. 13B is an external view thereof.

FIG. 14A is a side view of the upper portion of the cage, and FIG. 14B is another side view.

FIG. 15 is a side view showing a water supply port at the bottom of the cage.

16 (a) is a view showing a structure of an air supply port and an exhaust port to the cage, and FIG. 16 (b) is a plan sectional view thereof.

FIG. 17 (a) is a view showing a structure of a feeding opening to a cage,
(B) is a side sectional view thereof.

FIG. 18 is a sectional view showing an opening / closing structure of a duct.

FIG. 19 is a schematic view showing a structure for removing a duct.

FIG. 20 is a diagram for explaining the principle of monitoring.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a means for collecting microorganisms and the like.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 rack 2 shelves 3 cages 4 Bottom member 5 wheels 6 fixed rails 7 Support stand 8 roll paper 9 cutter 10 Waste collection box 11 handle 12 Washing rack

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Shoichi Suzuki             Hamori, 7-6-5 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo             -Inside the corporation (72) Inventor Norihiko Koyano             Hamori, 7-6-5 Ueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo             -Inside the corporation (72) Inventor Masayuki Kataoka             4-28-4 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo River             Inside Sakiki Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor, Yoshihiro Ushimaru             4-28-4 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo River             Inside Sakiki Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tsutomu Fujita             4-28-4 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo River             Inside Sakiki Kogyo Co., Ltd. F term (reference) 2B101 AA11 BB03 FA01 FA04

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A breeding apparatus in which racks are provided with a plurality of shelves, and a plurality of rows of cages are detachably provided for each shelf, and a floor net for supporting animals is arranged in each cage. An individual environment-controlled breeding apparatus for experimental animals, characterized in that the lower surface of each cage and the bottom member are manually configured to come into contact with and separate from each other. 2. The individual environment controlled breeding apparatus for experimental animals according to claim 1, wherein the bottom member is configured to be movable in the vertical direction so as to be brought into contact with and separated from the lower surface of each cage. 3. An air supply / exhaust duct for each cage is provided with a plurality of vertical branch pipes, and a branch pipe horizontally provided from each branch pipe and connected to each cage. The individual environment controlled breeding apparatus for laboratory animals according to claim 1, characterized by comprising: 4. The individual environment controlled breeding device for experimental animals according to claim 3, wherein a part of the air supply and exhaust duct is configured to be openable / closable or removable. 5. The individual environment controlled breeding apparatus for laboratory animals according to claim 1, further comprising means for monitoring the infection of the laboratory animals in the cage, such as microorganisms.