JP2008289450A - Feeding system for animal raising, and system for animal raising - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a feeding system for animal raising, with fewer limitations on the feed to be used, capable of exactly applying eating rhythm to relevant animals similar to that for humans, while being simple in constitution, and capable of measuring and recording the intake times, frequency of intakes and intake levels, and the like. <P>SOLUTION: The feeding system 1 has an outer cylinder 2, an inner cylinder 3 coaxially installed inside the outer cylinder 2, and a driving source 4 functioning to relatively revolve the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3, wherein the flanks of the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 are provided with openings 9 and 11, respectively. In this feeding system 1, by switching the mode of superimposing the openings 9 and 11 on each other and that of not superimposing them by the relative revolutions of the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3, condition of enabling a relevant animal to eat feed and that of enabling the relevant animal not to eat feed are realized. Furthermore, in this system 1, a control unit is connected to a light-receiving element and a feed weight measuring device and works, in such a way as to read the respective signals from the light-receiving element and the feed weight measuring device, calculate the intake time, intake level and intake frequency for a relevant animal and stores the thus calculated parameters in a memory. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a feeding apparatus capable of automatically controlling the meal time of animals in the breeding of small animals mainly for experiments such as rats and mice.

Laboratory animals such as rats and mice are used in fields such as medicine, pharmacy, and nutrition. However, it is a heavy burden to manually feed these laboratory animals when they are bred.

Prior to verifying the effects of various substances on humans, animal experiments are conducted. Humans are living in a three-meal diet that eats three times a day at a fixed time for a fixed time, and the same limited intake is recommended for experimental animals. On the other hand, in a normal rearing method in which food is freely consumed, animals do not take the intake mode desired by the experimenter. However, manually feeding and unloading is a heavy burden and it is difficult to conduct experiments on a sufficient number of animals.

Therefore, Patent Document 1 describes that a pellet feeder is controlled by a controller including a microprocessor to supply pellet-like food to adjust the feeding rhythm.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-41518

When performing animal experiments, in order to obtain accurate data, the same feeding conditions must be achieved for a certain number of animals, but manual feeding based on the feeding rhythm of feeding is necessary. It is a big burden to do. In addition, when the number of individuals increases, a certain amount of time is required for feeding and collecting food, and the exact same feeding time cannot be realized for all individuals.

According to the feeding apparatus described in Patent Document 1, food can be fed at a desired time. However, there is no guarantee that all individuals will eat the given food at the same time. Although the feeding apparatus described in Patent Document 1 supplies food, the feeding end time cannot be controlled because the feeding is not performed. It cannot prevent the animal from leaving all or part of the food and eating later.

The baits that can be used are limited to pellets that conform to the specifications of the pellet feeder. Both the pellet feeder and the pellet feed are expensive. Moreover, since feed other than a pellet cannot be used, the substance and form which can be made into an experiment object are limited.

An object of the present invention is to provide an animal breeding feeding device that can control the feeding rhythm of an animal accurately while having few restrictions on the feed to be used and having a simple configuration.

In order to solve the above-described problem, a feeding apparatus for animal breeding according to the present invention includes an outer cylinder, an inner cylinder provided coaxially inside the outer cylinder, a drive source that relatively rotates the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder, The opening is provided in the side surface of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder, and the state in which the openings overlap with each other is switched by the relative rotation of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder. . You may install the axis of an outer cylinder and an inner cylinder substantially horizontally. Moreover, it is preferable to provide a bait weight measuring device.

Since the animal breeding feeding device of the present invention opens and closes the opening by the relative rotation of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder, the start and end times of feeding of animals can be accurately controlled with a simple and small device. It has the effect. There are few restrictions on the food to be used, and it has the effect that an animal experiment can be implemented based on the feeding rhythm defined about various substances.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing an example of an animal breeding feeding apparatus, FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of an animal breeding feeding apparatus, FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view thereof, and FIG. 4 is an animal breeding feeding apparatus. FIG. 5 is a front view showing the animal breeding apparatus.

The animal breeding feeding apparatus 1 includes an outer cylinder 2 and an inner cylinder 3. The outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 are coaxial, and the inner cylinder 3 is accommodated inside the outer cylinder 2. The outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 are made of a transparent material such as synthetic resin. And the drive source 4 for rotating this outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 relatively is provided. The relative rotation between the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 may be realized by rotating one of the outer cylinder 2 or the inner cylinder 3, or both the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 may be rotated. . Here, the outer cylinder 2 is fixed and the inner cylinder 3 is rotated.

The outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 are placed so that the axis is substantially vertical. This facilitates the installation of the drive source 4 in a stable state. An electric motor is used as the drive source 4. A first gear 5 is provided on the output shaft of the drive source 4, and a second gear 6 is provided in the upper center of the inner cylinder 3. By connecting the first gear 5 and the second gear 6, the power of the drive source 4 is transmitted to the inner cylinder 3. The drive source 4 may be provided on the upper portion of the inner cylinder 3, and the output shaft of the drive source 4 may be directly connected to the shaft of the inner cylinder 3.

The outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 are divided into an animal living space 7 and a bait storage space 8. In this example, the space surrounded by the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 is a bait storage space 8, and the outside is an animal living space. The space surrounded by the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 is such that the front half of the body of the animal x to be reared enters.

A circular opening 9 is provided on the side surface of the outer cylinder 2. An introduction pipe 10 is provided in connection with the opening. An opening 11 is also provided on the side surface of the inner cylinder 3. When the opening 11 of the inner cylinder 3 overlaps with the opening 9 of the outer cylinder 2, the open state is established, and the animal x can enter the space surrounded by the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3. Further, when the inner cylinder 3 is rotated and the opening 11 of the inner cylinder 3 comes to a position where it does not overlap the opening 9 of the outer cylinder 2, the shut-off state is established.

A bait container 12 can be placed in a space surrounded by the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3. And the load cell 13 is provided in the position which puts this food container as a food weight measuring apparatus.

A light emitting element 14 and a light receiving element 15 (photo sensor) are provided on the outer peripheral side surface of the outer cylinder 2 so as to face each other. The optical path starts from the light emitting element 14 and passes through the axis of the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 to the light receiving element 15. A contact sensor 16 is provided at the end of the opening 11 of the inner cylinder 3.

The portion composed of the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 can be formed as a small device. You may make a dedicated breeding device that matches the cage for raising animals with this feeding device for animal breeding, but you can also install this animal feeding device in the cage of a breeding device that has already been widely used. it can. In the present example, one part of each of the plurality of cages including the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 is installed, and a common control device 17 is provided for all the cages.

The output of the load cell 13 is connected to the computer 20 via the load cell amplifier 18 and the A / D converter 19, and the bait weight is measured by the computer 20. The output of the photosensor 15 is also connected to the computer 20 and is measured by the computer 20. It is connected. The motor of the drive source 4 is also connected to the computer 20 via the motor controller 21, and its rotation is controlled by the computer 20.

Next, an animal breeding method using the animal breeding feeding apparatus will be described together with the operation of the animal breeding feeding apparatus. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the animal breeding feeding apparatus.

It can be applied to almost any animal that can be raised in a cage for raising animals. In particular, it is suitable for breeding small laboratory animals such as mice and rats. A bait is put into the bait container and installed on the load cell 13. The bait is not limited to pellets and can be freely selected from solids, granules, powders and liquids. Since the bait container 12 is detachable, the bait can be supplied by replacing the bait container already installed in the bait container 12 with the bait container 12 already installed. Although it is not impossible to automate this process, the apparatus becomes larger and more complicated. Even if the replacement work is performed manually, it is not a heavy burden and is advantageous in simplifying the apparatus.

The computer 20 is programmed with a schedule for switching between a state where the openings of the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 overlap each other and a state where they do not overlap based on the eating pattern to be tested. In the example of the flowchart of FIG. 6, a feeding start time ts and a feeding end time te for several times a day are set. The same schedule may be programmed for all cages. The cage may be divided into groups and the schedule may be programmed to achieve different feeding patterns for each group.

When the switching schedule is started, the driving source 4 is operated based on the schedule, and the inner cylinder 3 is rotated to be opened or shut off at a predetermined time.

When the feeding start time ts arrives and the openings of the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 overlap and become open, the animal x enters through the introduction tube, and the head is moved from the openings 9 and 11 to the inner cylinder 3. Can be put inside. In this way, the food in the food container 12 can be ingested.

Animal x may not be eating at all times when it is open. When the head is placed inside the inner cylinder 3 to eat food, the light from the light emitting element 12 is blocked by the animal body and does not reach the light receiving element 13. The control device reads the signal of the light receiving element at a predetermined time interval (B seconds). Therefore, by detecting that light does not enter the light receiving element 13, the computer 20 can grasp the actual eating time and the number of times of eating, and can store it in the internal storage device. it can.

In addition, the computer 20 measures the weight of the food by reading the output of the load cell 13 at a predetermined time interval (A second). By calculating the weight loss, the amount of food consumed can be measured and recorded. When the food container falls below a predetermined value, it is determined that the food has run out and is displayed prominently on the display in red or the like.

When the feeding end time te programmed as a schedule arrives, the drive source 4 is actuated by an instruction from the computer 20, and the inner cylinder 3 rotates to shift to the shut-off state. When the opening portions of the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 overlap each other and are in a blocked state, the animal x cannot enter the inner cylinder 3 and cannot eat food. While maintaining the blocked state, it is possible to reliably realize the state of not ingesting.

In addition, although the contact sensor 16 is provided in the edge part of the opening part 11 of the inner cylinder 3, the edge part in which this contact sensor 16 is provided in rotation of the inner cylinder 3 when it transfers to a interruption | blocking state. It moves as the tip of the portion that is not the opening, and closes the opening 9 of the outer cylinder 2. If the animal is still in the state where the head is put into the inner cylinder 3 through the opening, the contact sensor 16 contacts the body of the animal and reacts. In response to the signal from the contact sensor 16 at this time, the computer 20 stops the driving source 4 or further reversely rotates the driving source 4 to temporarily open the state (C seconds). When the animal retreats from the inner cylinder 3 and the contact sensor 16 issues a non-contact signal, the computer 20 operates the drive source 4 again and shifts to the shut-off state. This can prevent the animal from being pinched when the opening is blocked.

The space inside the inner cylinder is limited to the extent that the animal x can put the first half of the body, and the whole body cannot be put in the inner cylinder. Therefore, the animal is surely out of the inner cylinder 3 in the shut-off state.

Since the animal breeding feeding device opens and closes the opening by relative rotation of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder, it is possible to accurately and reliably control the start and end of the time that can be eaten. In addition, since the actual feeding time, the number of times of food intake, and the amount of food intake are also measured and recorded, it is possible to use data for analyzing the feeding behavior of animals.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing another example of an animal breeding feeding apparatus. In this example, the axes of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder are installed substantially horizontally. The outer cylinder 2 is fixed, and the opening 9 is provided on the lower side surface. A bait container 12 is provided directly below the opening 9.

That is, in this embodiment, the space formed by the outer cylinder 2 and the inner cylinder 3 is also part of the animal's living space. The bait storage space is outside the inner cylinder 3. An opening 11 is also provided on the side surface of the inner cylinder 3. The inner cylinder 3 is rotated to open and close the opening.

When open, the animal puts its mouth into the opening 9 and ingests food. When the inner cylinder 3 is rotated and the opening 9 is closed, the food cannot be taken. If the animal is still eating when shifting to the shut-off state, the tip of the side wall of the inner cylinder 3 that attempts to close the opening 9 comes into contact with the animal's whiskers. Rats, mice, etc. react very sensitively to the contact of foreign objects on the beard and take immediate retreat. Therefore, the animal body is prevented from being caught when the body moves to the blocking state.

It is a perspective view which shows typically the example of the feeding apparatus for animal breeding. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the example of the feeding apparatus for animal breeding. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the feeding apparatus for animal breeding. It is a front view which shows an animal breeding apparatus. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the feeding apparatus for animal breeding. It is a perspective view which shows typically another example of the feeding apparatus for animal breeding.

Explanation of symbols

1. 1. Feeding device for animal breeding 2. outer cylinder Inner cylinder 4. Drive source 9. Opening 10. Introducing tube 11. Opening 12. Bait container 13. Feed weight measuring device (load cell)
17. Control device

Claims (5)

It has an outer cylinder, an inner cylinder coaxially provided inside the outer cylinder, and a drive source for relatively rotating the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder, and an opening is provided on the side surfaces of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder. The animal breeding feeding device is characterized in that it switches between a state in which the openings overlap and a state in which the openings do not overlap by relative rotation of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder. The feeding apparatus for animal breeding according to claim 1, wherein the axes of the outer cylinder and the inner cylinder are installed substantially horizontally. The feeding apparatus for animal breeding according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a bait weight measuring apparatus. A contact sensor is provided at the end of the rotating opening of the outer cylinder or inner cylinder, and the drive source is rotated in reverse when a signal indicating that the contact sensor has contacted is detected when shifting to the shut-off state. The feeding apparatus for animal breeding according to claim 1, wherein the animal is prevented from being caught by the feeding. An animal rearing feeding device according to claim 1, a light emitting element and a light receiving device provided on the outer periphery of the outer cylinder, a food weight measuring device, and a control device, wherein the control device includes a light receiving element and a food weight measuring device, An animal breeding apparatus which is connected and the control device reads the signals of the light receiving device and the food weight measuring device, calculates the food intake time, food intake and food intake frequency of the animal, and stores them in the storage device.

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