JP2005095004A - Rack for rearing animal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rack for rearing an animal designed to surely suck air in cages from vent ports. <P>SOLUTION: This rack 1 for rearing the animal is composed of shelves 2 in a plurality of stages for arranging the plurality of cages 3 and housing the plurality of cages. Each shelf 2 is formed of a shelf board 4 and each cage 3 is composed of a box-shaped container having a rectangular opening surface in which the whole top surface is opened. A vent chamber communicating with each shelf 2 is provided in the back surface of the shelf 2 and air is formed into a unidirectional stream directed from the front surface of the shelf 2 in the back surface direction by regulating the interior of the shelf 2 to negative pressure. In the rack 1, a space between the opening surface in the upper part of the cage 3 and the undersurface of the shelf board 4 on the upper side thereof is provided with hanging walls 5 for closing the upper side of the right and left side edges of the opening surface and the vent ports 9 closed with a back plate contacting the rear of the cage, opening only the front side and communicating with the vent chamber are installed in the back plate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an animal breeding rack for housing and raising small animals used for experimental research.

  As an animal breeding rack, an animal breeding rack having a negative pressure unidirectional flow is known. This negative pressure one-way flow animal breeding rack draws air from the exhaust port on the rear of the shelf, thereby creating a negative pressure in the shelf and allowing the air to flow in one direction from the front to the rear of the shelf. Laboratory animals are bred while supplying air-conditioned or purified indoor air into the shelf without leaking odors or allergenic substances from the animals in the cage contained in the room. When the temperature in the cage rises due to the animal's body temperature or the like, this negative pressure unidirectional animal breeding rack generates warm air ascending air flow, making it difficult for purified air to flow into the cage. That is, most of the air sucked into the shelf from the front surface of the shelf passes through the side surface of the cage without flowing into the cage and is discharged from the exhaust port on the rear surface. Therefore, the exhaust port sucks only the air outside the cage below the shelf, and the air in the cage cannot be circulated.

On the other hand, an animal breeding rack has been proposed in which a door is provided with the front surface of the shelf partially opened, and the inside of the shelf can be vented through the opening (see Patent Document 1).
However, since the animal breeding rack described in Patent Document 1 is an improved technology based on a rack in which floor-standing cages are arranged on each shelf, the opening area of the front surface of the shelf is large when the door is opened. As a result, the suction airflow speed becomes slow and the airflow is disturbed, so that the air in the cage may leak into the room.

Utility Model Registration No. 3057907

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-described prior art, and an object thereof is to provide an animal breeding rack that reliably sucks air in a cage from an exhaust port with a simple structure.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there are a plurality of shelves for accommodating a plurality of cages side by side, each shelf is formed by a shelf plate, and each cage has a rectangular opening surface whose entire top surface is open. In an animal breeding rack comprising an exhaust chamber that communicates with each shelf on the rear surface of the shelf, and has a negative pressure inside the shelf to allow air to flow in one direction from the front surface of the shelf to the rear surface direction. The space between the opening surface of the upper part of the cage and the lower surface of the shelf plate on the upper side is closed by a hanging wall that covers the upper side of the left and right side edges of the opening surface, and a rear plate with which the rear part of the cage abuts. There is provided an animal breeding rack characterized in that only the side is opened and an exhaust port communicating with the exhaust chamber is provided in the rear plate.

  The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the entire front surface of the shelf is open.

  The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that a door having a predetermined opening is provided on the front surface of the shelf.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the opening on the front side of the upper part of the cage has a size that does not cause reversal of the airflow of the negative pressure unidirectional flow.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the rear plate is made of a plate material constituting the front surface of the exhaust chamber.

  The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that the plate member on the front surface of the exhaust chamber has a projecting portion with which the rear portion of the cage abuts.

  The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that the cage is placed on the shelf board and accommodated in the shelf.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the cage has a flange on the periphery of the opening surface, and the cage is suspended by hooking the left and right flanges of the cage on the locking pieces provided at the lower ends of the left and right hanging walls. It is characterized by being housed in a shelf.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the upper opening surface of the cage accommodated in the shelf is closed by the top plate (upper shelf plate), the left and right hanging walls and the rear plate, and only the front surface of the upper portion of the cage is opened. Since the opening is provided in the rear plate, air flows in from the upper front surface of the cage and surely passes through the cage and is sucked into the exhaust port to flow, forming a one-way flow from the front surface of the shelf to the rear surface. In other words, the upper part of the cage is open only on the front side and the left and right side surfaces are closed, so even if the temperature in the cage rises, the ascending airflow reliably flows backward without leaking from the side surface and is discharged from the exhaust port on the rear side. The Therefore, it is possible to secure a one-way flow of air flowing from the front surface of the cage, flowing through the cage, and flowing out from the rear surface of the cage. Moreover, since air flows separately for each cage, cross-contamination between cages in the same shelf is prevented.

  As a hanging wall, by fixing a section steel material such as I-shaped steel or H-shaped steel to the lower surface of each shelf board (the ceiling surface of the shelf), the cage is easily and securely divided on the upper surface of each cage. A space can be formed.

  According to the invention of claim 2, since a one-way flow is formed in a state where the entire front surface of the shelf is opened without providing a door, it is not necessary to open and close the door when removing and inserting the cage, cleaning, and other maintenance work. Improves.

  According to the invention of claim 3, by providing the door, the interior of the room and the inside of the shelf are reliably separated, and the reliability of preventing cross contamination between the inside of the room and the inside of the shelf is improved. Further, as described above, a predetermined opening, for example, an opening having a size that does not cause reversal of the negative pressure unidirectional flow (Claim 4) is provided on the front side of the upper portion of the cage, and the door also has a predetermined size. By providing the opening, a one-way flow from the front side of the shelf to the rear side is more reliably formed.

  According to the invention of claim 4, even if warm air is generated as an upward airflow from the cage due to the body temperature of the animal in the cage, air of a constant airflow surely flows into the cage from the front surface of the upper part of the cage, It can flow through the cage and maintain a one-way flow of air. In this case, if the opening on the front side of the cage is too large, the momentum of the air flow sucked into the cage through the opening is weakened, and the direction of the one-way flow may be reversed by being pushed back by the rising warm air flow due to the temperature rise in the cage. There is. Accordingly, the size of the opening is set so that the one-way flow does not reverse in consideration of the air flow rate, the cage capacity, the temperature rise, and the like.

  According to the invention of claim 5, by using the exhaust chamber on the rear side of the shelf and using the plate material on the front surface of the exhaust chamber as the rear plate of the closed space on the upper surface of the cage, a new plate material can be used with a simple configuration. Instead, each cage is accommodated in contact with the exhaust chamber on the rear surface of the shelf, so that a closed space of one-way flow can be easily formed.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the projecting portion is provided on the plate material on the front surface of the exhaust chamber, and the rear end portion of the cage is brought into contact with the projecting portion, so that the closed space can be surely formed in the upper portion of the cage. In this case, since a space is formed below the protruding portion with which the cage abuts, a space is formed between the rear surface of the cage and the front surface of the exhaust chamber, and a water supply nozzle can be disposed in this space.

  According to invention of Claim 7, versatility can be improved as a simple structure irrespective of the shape of a cage or a shelf.

  According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, both the left and right sides of the cage upper opening surface are reliably closed, and the cleaning operation of the floor surface of the shelf below the cage is facilitated.

  FIG. 1 is a front view of an animal breeding rack according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of the animal breeding rack of FIG.

  The animal breeding rack 1 is composed of a plurality of shelves 2 formed between upper and lower shelf plates 4 of a plurality of shelf plates 4, and cages 3 whose upper surfaces are opened are arranged in parallel in each shelf 2. The Each cage 3 is a box-shaped container having a rectangular opening surface 3a whose upper surface is opened. A collar 6 is provided on the periphery of the opening surface. A small animal (not shown) is accommodated in the cage 3. Each cage 3 is engaged with the lower end of a hanging wall 5 having a substantially I-shaped cross section (both ends of each shelf are substantially U-shaped) attached to the lower surface of the top plate (the upper shelf 4). The hook 6 is hooked on the piece 5 b (FIG. 3) and is suspended and accommodated in the shelf 2. An exhaust chamber 7 is provided on the back surface of each shelf 2, and the exhaust chamber 7 communicates with an exhaust duct 8. The shelf plate 4 of each shelf 2 is abutted and fixed to the plate member 10 on the front surface of the exhaust chamber 7. Therefore, the storage space of each shelf 2 is composed of the left and right side frames 30, the shelf plate 4 and the top plate (upper shelf plate 4) constituting the floor plate, with the front plate 10 of the exhaust chamber 7 as the rear plate. It is formed.

  The rear plate of each shelf 2 (the plate member 10 on the front surface of the exhaust chamber 7) is provided with an exhaust port 9 for each cage, and is closed by a hanging wall that covers the upper side edges of the left and right sides and a rear plate that abuts the rear of the cage. The space above the cage, which is open only at the upper front, communicates with the exhaust chamber 7, and the space is maintained at a negative pressure. The exhaust port 9 is a small hole having a small diameter with respect to the exhaust amount of the entire rack, and air is sucked almost uniformly from all the exhaust ports 9 provided in the shelf 2. In other words, the overall exhaust amount is determined so that a substantially uniform exhaust amount can be obtained regardless of the position of each exhaust port 9. If the total exhaust amount is too small, the exhaust air is exhausted only from the exhaust port 9 near the exhaust duct 8 and is not exhausted sufficiently from the lower shelf.

  The space between the upper opening surface 3a of each cage 3 accommodated in each shelf 2 and the lower surface of the upper shelf plate 4 is the left and right sides of the opening surface 3a as shown in FIGS. The hanging wall 5 that covers the upper edge of the edge and the rear plate (the plate member 10 on the front surface of the exhaust chamber 7) with which the rear portion of the cage 3 abuts are closed, and only the front surface side is opened. Is provided. A monitor room for checking whether there are infected animals in the domestic animals may be provided in the exhaust path.

  FIG. 3 is a front view of a cage housed in a shelf and FIG. 4 is a side view of the shelf of FIG.

  An attachment piece 5a at the upper end of the hanging wall 5 is attached to the top plate (upper shelf plate 4) of the shelf 2 by fixing means (not shown) such as screws or welding. The hanging wall 5 has a locking piece 5b at the lower end. The hanging wall 5 can be formed using I-shaped steel, H-shaped steel, U-shaped cross-sectioned steel, or L-shaped steel. The cage 3 is housed by being suspended in the shelf 2 by sliding the collar portion 6 along the locking piece 5 b, and the position thereof is fixed by the stopper 16. As a result, the upper space of the cage 3 is blocked by the top plate (upper shelf plate 4), the hanging wall 5 and the rear plate of the shelf 2 (plate material 10 on the front surface of the exhaust chamber 7) except for the front surface. For this reason, the air sucked from the exhaust fan 11 (FIG. 8) flows in from the opening 12 in the upper front surface of the cage 3 and surely passes through the cage 3 and flows out from the exhaust port 9 to the exhaust chamber 7 (arrow in FIG. 4). . Therefore, the air in the cage 3 does not circulate indoors or other places on the shelf 2, and a one-way flow of air can be ensured.

  By adopting such a configuration, a one-way flow is formed with the entire front surface of the shelf open without providing a door, so that it is not necessary to open and close the door when the cage 3 is put in and out, cleaning, or other maintenance work. Workability is improved. Since the cage 3 is suspended and accommodated, the floor surface of the shelf 2 can be easily cleaned. Moreover, since air flows separately for each cage 3, cross contamination between cages in the same shelf is prevented.

  If the opening width T of the opening 12 on the upper front surface of the cage 3 is reduced and the airflow speed is increased to prevent the air backflow, warm air is generated as an upward airflow from the cage due to the body temperature of the animal in the cage. Even so, air of a constant airflow can surely flow into the cage from the front surface of the upper portion of the cage, and can flow in the cage to maintain a one-way flow of air. The size of the opening is set so that the one-way flow does not reverse in consideration of the air flow rate, cage capacity, temperature rise, and the like.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing another example of housing the cage of FIG.
As shown in the figure, when the animal water supply nozzle 14 is attached to the rear of the cage 3, the cage 3 is positioned forward and accommodated in the shelf 2 by the length of the nozzle 14. In this case, since an open part is formed behind the cage 3, there is a possibility that air is sucked into the exhaust port 9 from the space below the shelf 2. In order to prevent this, a protruding portion 15 is formed in a shape in which the plate 10 on the front surface of the exhaust chamber 7 protrudes from the front surface, and the side surface of the rear end portion of the cage is brought into contact with the protruding portion 15. Thereby, a closed space can be reliably formed in the upper portion of the cage 3. In the exhaust chamber 7, water supply pipes 13 communicating with the nozzles 14 are arranged along the shelves 2.

  FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention, and is a front view of a cage placed and housed in a shelf on a floor, and FIG. 7 is a side view of the shelf of FIG.

  3 and 4 (on the side where the cage is suspended), when the cage 3 is placed on the floor in the shelf 2 and accommodated, the collar portion 6 of the cage 3 is brought into contact with the hanging wall 5. Slide it in while storing. When there is the locking piece 5b on the hanging wall 5, it is slid along the locking piece 5b and accommodated. At this time, the gap between the flange 6 of the cage 3 and the hanging wall 5 is set to a minute distance. When the hanging wall 5 has the locking piece 5b, the distance between the lower surface of the flange portion 6 and the upper surface of the locking piece 5b of the hanging wall 5 is set to a minute distance that does not allow air to flow. As a result, the top of the cage 3 is almost closed except for the front surface by the top plate 4, the hanging wall 5 and the rear plate (plate material 10) of the shelf 2, and air is distributed to other portions in the shelf. Absent. For this reason, the air sucked from the exhaust fan 11 (FIG. 8) flows in from the opening 12 in the upper front surface of the cage 3 and surely passes through the cage 3 and flows out from the exhaust port 9 to the exhaust chamber 7 (arrow in FIG. 7). . Therefore, the air in the cage 3 does not circulate indoors or elsewhere on the shelf 2. In the case of this floor-mounting system, the hanging wall 5 may not have the lower end locking piece 5b. In this case, the cage 6 is directly brought into contact with the hanging wall 5 to close the upper surface of the cage. Other configurations, operations, and effects are the same as those in the examples of FIGS.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing an example of air conditioning equipment for an animal breeding rack according to the present invention.
As illustrated, an animal breeding rack 1 according to the present invention is placed in a room 21. The room 21 is provided with a work table 22, and the cage is taken out of the shelf 2 and is operated on the work table 22. An exhaust chamber 7 on the rear side of the animal breeding rack 1 communicates with an exhaust duct 8 on the upper side thereof and communicates with an exhaust fan 11. The exhaust duct 8 is a flexible duct, and the position can be adjusted even if the arrangement of the animal breeding rack 1 is changed. The exhaust fan 11 is provided with a filter 24, and the exhaust duct 8 is provided with a damper 23 for adjusting the air volume. Air from the air conditioner 25 is supplied from the ceiling of the room 21. This air supply passes through the air supply duct 26, the air volume is adjusted by a damper 27, and then supplied as clean air into the room through a high-performance filter 28 such as HEPA.

  In the above embodiment, the front surface of the shelf is completely opened and the door is not provided, but the interior of the shelf and the room are reliably separated to increase the reliability of preventing mutual cross-contamination, and the appearance is improved. For example, a door may be provided in front of the shelf. The door is provided with an opening to form a one-way air flow. Alternatively, it may be a door that partially covers the front of the shelf with a part of the front of the shelf opened. This door can be provided with a pivotable opening / closing type having an upper edge or a lower edge as a hinge or other suitable structure.

  Regarding the opening of the door, as described above, since the opening of a size that secures a one-way flow is provided on the front surface side of the upper surface of the cage, the opening provided in the door may be of a size that allows sufficient air flow.

The front view of the animal breeding rack which concerns on this invention. The side view of the shelf of FIG. The front view of the cage suspended and accommodated in the shelf. The side view of the shelf of FIG. The side view which shows another example of accommodation of the cage of FIG. The front view of the cage mounted and accommodated in the shelf. The side view of the shelf of FIG. Schematic which shows the air-conditioning equipment example of the animal breeding rack which concerns on this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: animal rearing rack, 2: shelf, 3: cage, 3a: opening surface, 4: shelf board, 5: hanging wall, 5a: mounting piece, 5b: locking piece, 6: buttocks,
7: exhaust chamber, 8: exhaust duct, 9: exhaust port, 10: plate material,
11: Exhaust fan, 12: Opening, 13: Water supply pipe, 14: Nozzle,
15: protruding wall, 21: room, 22: work table, 23: damper,
24: filter, 25: air conditioner, 26: air supply duct,
27: damper, 28: filter, 30: side frame.

Claims (8)

Consists of a plurality of shelves that house a plurality of cages side by side, each shelf is formed by a shelf board,
Each cage consists of a box-shaped container having a rectangular opening surface with the entire upper surface open,
In the animal rearing rack comprising an exhaust chamber communicating with each shelf on the rear surface of the shelf, and making the inside of the shelf have a negative pressure so that air flows in one direction from the front surface of the shelf to the rear surface direction,
The space between the opening surface of the upper part of the cage and the lower surface of the shelf on the upper side is a hanging wall that closes the upper side of the left and right side edges of the opening surface,
An animal breeding rack characterized by being closed by a rear plate with which the rear portion of the cage abuts, opening only on the front side, and providing an exhaust port communicating with the exhaust chamber on the rear plate.   The animal breeding rack according to claim 1, wherein the entire front surface of the shelf is open.   The animal breeding rack according to claim 1, wherein a door having a predetermined opening is provided on a front surface of the shelf.   The animal breeding rack according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the opening on the front side of the upper part of the cage has a size that does not cause reversal of the airflow of the negative pressure unidirectional flow.   The animal rearing rack according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the rear plate is made of a plate material constituting the front surface of the exhaust chamber.   6. The animal breeding rack according to claim 5, wherein the front plate of the exhaust chamber has a protruding portion with which the rear portion of the cage abuts.   The animal breeding rack according to claim 1, wherein the cage is placed on the shelf and accommodated in the shelf. The cage has flanges on the periphery of the opening surface, and the cages are hung on the locking pieces provided at the lower ends of the left and right hanging walls, and the cages are suspended and accommodated in a shelf. The animal breeding rack according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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