JP2009178063A - Apparatus for enabling animal to walk under water - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for enabling an animal to walk under water, not requiring a device for regulating a water level at the outside. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus 10 for enabling the animal to walk under water is equipped with an aquarium 12, a belt conveyor 14 arranged in the aquarium so as to be lifted and lowered, a lifting and lowering mechanism 56 for lifting or lowering the belt conveyor, a driving source 72 arranged at the position not contacting with the water stored in the aquarium and for driving the belt conveyor, a transmission mechanism 74 for transmitting the driving force of the driving source to a belt pulley of the belt conveyor, and a cover 94 capable of following the upper or lower movement of the belt conveyor and covering the transmission mechanism. As the construction, the height position of the belt conveyor can be regulated to make the adjustment of the water level according to the size of the animal unnecessary. Thereby, the water level-regulating device is made unnecessary to enable the whole installation to be miniaturized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an underwater walking apparatus for the purpose of rehabilitation of land animals, mainly dogs, elimination of obesity, improvement of motor function, and the like.

  Due to the recent pet boom, the number of terrestrial animals, especially dogs, raised at home has been increasing. For this reason, the necessity to cope with various illnesses and injuries that accompany the aging of dogs is increasing, and the demand for enhancement of rehabilitation facilities used after treatment is also increasing. Moreover, since it is often raised indoors, lack of exercise and obesity are also problems.

  Under such circumstances, conventionally, an underwater walking apparatus for animals as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 below has been proposed.

Both the underwater walking devices disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 basically have a belt conveyor arranged at the bottom of the aquarium, similar to those for human beings. Tighten and put a dog there and walk on the belt conveyor.
JP 2007-151894 A US Pat. No. 6,746,375

  By the way, in an underwater walking apparatus for animals, it is common to use dogs and other animals of various sizes. For this reason, in the conventional apparatus as described above, since the height of the belt conveyor is constant, for example, when a small dog starts walking underwater after using a large dog, the water level is adjusted to the size of the small dog. There is a need to. Therefore, for example, in the underwater walking device disclosed in Patent Document 1, a water level adjusting device is provided outside thereof. This water level adjustment device is equipped with a tank for temporarily storing the water extracted from the tank of the underwater walking device, but since this tank is the same size as the water tank of the underwater walking device, the underwater walking device and the water level adjustment A large amount of space is required to install the apparatus. In addition, there is a problem that it takes time to take in and out the water for adjusting the water level.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel underwater walking device for animals that does not require an external water level adjusting device.

  In order to achieve the above object, an underwater walking device for animals according to the present invention includes a water tank, a belt conveyor arranged in the water tank so as to be movable up and down, a vertical movement mechanism for moving the belt conveyor up and down, and a water tank. A drive source that is arranged in a position not in contact with the stored water and that drives the belt conveyor, a transmission mechanism that can follow the vertical movement of the belt conveyor, and transmits the driving force of the drive source to the belt pulley of the belt conveyor, and the belt conveyor And a cover that covers the transmission mechanism.

  In the underwater walking device for animals according to the present invention, since the height position of the belt conveyor can be adjusted, it is not necessary to adjust the water level according to the size of the animal. As a result, the water level adjusting device is not required, and the entire facility can be downsized.

  In addition, since a drive source such as an electric motor is located away from the water in the water tank, there is no need to use a special and expensive drive source such as a submersible motor, and an inexpensive drive source should be used. Is possible.

  Furthermore, since a cover is attached to the transmission mechanism, there is no fear that an animal walking underwater will be caught in the transmission mechanism. In addition, some types of animals may cause a large amount of hair loss, but this cover can also prevent a foreign matter such as hair from adversely affecting the transmission mechanism.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an underwater walking device for animals according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of an embodiment of an underwater walking device for animals according to the present invention as seen from the side. As illustrated, the underwater walking device 10 of the present invention includes a water tank 12 and a belt conveyor 14 disposed in the water tank 12.

  The underwater walking device 10 according to the illustrated embodiment is for dogs, and the water tank 12 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape that allows large dogs to perform walking motion on the internal belt conveyor 14 with a margin. It is preferable that the front and rear side plates 15 to 17 of the aquarium 12 are provided with a viewing window 18 so that the state of the dog in the aquarium 12 can be observed from the outside and the dog can see the owner from within the aquarium 12. It is. A drain pipe 22 is connected to the bottom plate 20 of the water tank 12, and a water supply pipe 24 is connected to one of the side plates (side plate 16) of the water tank 12. Although not shown, a water purifier for purifying the water in the water tank 12 and returning it to the water tank 12 again is provided between the drain pipe 22 and the water supply pipe 24 in order to minimize waste of water. It is effective. In addition, in FIG. 1, the code | symbol is the heater 26 and it can heat the water in the water tank 12. FIG. The rear side plate 17 has an opening / closing door 28, which can be opened during maintenance.

  The belt conveyor 14 includes a conveyor frame 31 including a pair of left and right side frames 30 disposed along the left and right side plates 16 of the water tank 12, and a belt provided at a front end portion and a rear end portion between the side frames 30. Pulleys 32 and 34 and an endless belt 36 wound around the front and rear belt pulleys 32 and 34 are provided. As shown in FIG. 2, since a dog is placed on the tension side of the belt 36, a belt receiver that receives the lower surface of the tension side of the belt 36 between the left and right side frames 30 so that the portion does not bend downward. A plate 38 is provided.

  In order to apply an appropriate tension to the belt 36, it is desirable to provide a tension adjusting mechanism 40. The illustrated tension adjusting mechanism 40 includes a lever 42 that is swingably attached to the side frame 30, and a tension roller 44 that is attached to one end of the lever 42 and presses the slack side of the belt 36. The other end of the lever 42 is provided with an L-shaped portion 48 formed with an arc-shaped slot 46 centered on the fulcrum of the lever 42, and the shaft portion of the bolt 50 extending from the side frame 30 in the slot 46. Is passed. By tightening the nut 52 to the shaft portion of the bolt 50 and fixing the lever 42, a state in which an appropriate tension is applied to the belt 36 is maintained.

  Further, since gaps are formed between the front and rear belt pulleys 32 and 34 and the left and right side frames 30, and the front and rear side plates 15 to 17 of the water tank 12, the dog's feet are prevented from being caught in the gaps. The safety cover 54 is preferably attached to the conveyor frame 31 to eliminate the gap.

  In the present invention, the belt conveyor 14 can move up and down in the water tank 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the vertical movement mechanism 56 that moves the belt conveyor 14 up and down is, in this embodiment, a screw rod that is vertically disposed inside the water tank 12 along either the left or right side plate 16 of the water tank 12. 58 and a screw member 60 for being screwed onto the screw rod 58 and being fixed to one side frame 30. The screw rod 58 can be rotated by a bearing 62 whose upper and lower portions are attached to the inner surface of the side plate 16 of the water tank 12, but is supported so as not to move up and down. A handle 66 is connected to the upper end of the screw rod 58 via a rotation direction changing mechanism (for example, a gear mechanism) 64, and the screw rod 58 can be rotated by turning the handle 66. A guide rod 68 is vertically installed along the side plate 16 inside the water tank 12, and the guide rod 68 penetrates a cylindrical sliding member 70 fixed to the side frame 30 so as to be slidable. is doing. In such a configuration, since the rotation of the belt conveyor 14 is prevented by the guide rod 68 and the sliding member 70, when the screw rod 58 is rotated by turning the handle 66 in either direction, the female screw member 60, As a result, the belt conveyor 14 moves up or down. In addition, the position of the belt conveyor 14 shown with the continuous line of FIG. 1 is the lowest position, and the position of a dashed-two dotted line becomes the highest position. It is assumed that the water level in the water tank 12 is kept constant at a position (a dashed line position) above the uppermost position by a predetermined height.

  In this embodiment, a general electric motor 72 is used as a drive source of the belt conveyor 14 and is attached to the outside of the upper part of the water tank 12 (see FIG. 4). By using a submersible motor instead of a general electric motor, it is possible to make the belt conveyor 14 a direct drive type. However, the submersible motor is expensive and requires maintenance and cost. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the electric motor 72 is disposed above the highest water level of the water tank 12 and outside the water tank 12 which is not easily affected by water.

  A transmission mechanism 74 for transmitting the driving force of the electric motor 72 is provided between the electric motor 72 and one belt pulley 34 of the belt conveyor 14. The transmission mechanism 74 in the illustrated embodiment is connected to a rotation direction conversion mechanism 76 such as a gear mechanism that converts the rotation direction of the rotation shaft of the electric motor 72 extending in the horizontal direction to a vertical direction, and to the output side of the rotation direction conversion mechanism 76. The transmission rod 78, the first bevel gear 80 that rotates together with the transmission rod 78, and the second bevel gear 80 that meshes with the first bevel gear 80 and that is fixed to the rotary shaft 82 that is integral with the belt pulley 34 in the belt conveyor 14. And a bevel gear 84.

  The transmission rod 78 can be rotated by a bearing 86 whose upper and lower portions are attached to the inner surface of the side plate 16 of the water tank 12, but is supported so as not to move up and down. On the outer peripheral surface of the transmission rod 78, at least one groove 88 parallel to the rotation axis is formed. The transmission rod 78 is slidably inserted into the center hole of the first bevel gear 80, but a convex portion (not shown) that engages with the groove 88 on the inner peripheral surface of the center hole of the bevel gear 80. Therefore, the bevel gear 80 rotates together with the transmission rod 78. The first and second bevel gears 80 and 84 are rotatably supported by a bearing 92 of a gear case 90 provided on the side frame 30 of the belt conveyor 14.

  When the belt conveyor 14 is moved up and down, the distance between the electric motor 72 and the belt pulley 34 of the belt conveyor 14 changes, but the transmission mechanism 74 as described above can follow the vertical movement of the belt conveyor 14. That is, even if the belt conveyor 14 moves up and down, the first bevel gear 80 can slide along the transmission rod 78, so that the driving force from the electric motor 72 can be reliably transmitted to the belt pulley 34. it can.

  In the present embodiment, a cylindrical cover 94 is further provided to prevent the dog from coming into contact with the transmission rod 78 and the bevel gears 80 and 84. The cover 94 is a telescopic type that can be extended and retracted. In the illustrated embodiment, the cover 94 includes three cylindrical bodies 94a, 94b, and 94c. The outermost cylindrical body 94 a is fixed to the rotation direction conversion mechanism 76. An inward flange 95 is formed at the lower end of the outermost cylindrical body 94a, and engages with an outward flange 96 formed at the upper end of the intermediate cylindrical body 94b disposed on the inside thereof. The intermediate cylindrical body 94b is prevented from falling off from the outermost cylindrical body 94a. Further, the inner peripheral edge of the flange 95 of the cylindrical body 94a is slidably in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 94b, or the outer peripheral edge of the outward flange 96 of the cylindrical body 94b is the inner periphery of the cylindrical body 94a. It is slidably in contact with the surface. The innermost cylindrical body 94c is slidably fitted inside the intermediate cylindrical body 94b. The lower end of the innermost cylindrical body 94 c is attached to the gear case 90. With this configuration, the cover 94 expands and contracts following the vertical movement of the belt conveyor 14, and prevents foreign matter, such as hair, contained in the water in the water tank 12 from entering the cover 94.

  Next, the operation of the underwater walking device 10 for animals according to the present invention in the above-described configuration will be described.

  First, water is poured into the water tank 12 from the water supply pipe 24 until it reaches a predetermined water level (position indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 1). Next, the water temperature is adjusted by the heater 26. Thereafter, the height of the belt conveyor 14 is adjusted by turning the handle 66 in accordance with the size of the dog walking underwater. At this time, the cover 94 expands and contracts following the vertical movement of the belt conveyor 14. If the dog is placed in the water tank 12 and placed on the belt conveyor 14, the electric motor 72 is activated and the belt conveyor 14 is driven, so that the dog walks on the belt 36 that is circulated.

  The speed and direction of circulation driving of the belt 36 of the belt conveyor 14 (that is, the rotational speed and direction of the electric motor 72) and the water temperature (that is, the heater 26) are controlled from the control panel indicated by reference numeral 98 in FIG. Can do.

  When one dog's underwater walking training is completed and another dog of the same size is placed in the aquarium 12, the height of the belt conveyor 14 may be adjusted by moving the belt conveyor 14 up and down. In this embodiment, the water level needs to be adjusted. It will be understood that there is no. Furthermore, in the underwater walking device 10 of the present invention, the head is maintained at a substantially constant height above the aquarium 12, regardless of whether the dog is a small dog or a large dog. There is also an effect of being able to continue walking underwater without feeling.

  In addition, since the cover 94 is attached to the transmission mechanism 74, even if a large amount of hair is pulled out, entry of the hair into the cover 94 can be prevented or suppressed, and failure of the transmission mechanism 74 can be prevented. it can.

  Furthermore, since the electric motor 72 is provided outside the water tank 12 that does not come into contact with water, a general inexpensive one can be used, and repair and replacement are facilitated even in the event of a failure.

  The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the height of the belt conveyor 14 is manually adjusted. However, the belt conveyor 14 may be moved up and down electrically by connecting an electric motor to the screw rod 58. In this case, for each dog, an identification tag such as RFID that stores the information (size, medical history, training record, etc.) of the dog is attached, and the control panel 98 has a function of reading the information of the identification tag. For example, when the dog is placed near the underwater walking device 10, the electric motor can be automatically driven so that the dog is at an appropriate height position. Of course, by using such an identification tag, the walking speed can be automatically adjusted, and an exercise program for each dog can be executed.

  Moreover, although the underwater walking device according to the above embodiment is for dogs, it can also be applied to other terrestrial animals.

  Further, the transmission mechanism may be another type such as a chain mechanism as shown in FIG. When the chain mechanism 100 shown in FIG. 5 is used, the chains 102 and 104 are provided with covers 106 and 108 that cover the chain 102 and the chain 104, respectively. Preferably, they are pivotably and fluidly coupled to each other.

1 is a schematic sectional side view showing an embodiment of an underwater walking device for animals according to the present invention. It is detail drawing which shows a part of belt conveyor in the underwater walking apparatus of FIG. It is detail drawing which shows the up-and-down moving mechanism of the belt conveyor in the underwater walking apparatus of FIG. It is detail drawing which shows the transmission mechanism to the belt conveyor in the underwater walking apparatus of FIG. It is a schematic explanatory drawing which shows other embodiment of a transmission mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Underwater walking apparatus, 12 ... Water tank, 14 ... Belt conveyor, 15, 16, 17 ... Side plate, 26 ... Heater, 28 ... Opening / closing door, 32, 34 ... Belt pulley, 36 ... Belt, 38 ... Belt receiving plate, 40 ... tension adjusting mechanism, 54 ... safety cover, 56 ... vertical movement mechanism, 58 ... screw rod, 60 ... female screw member, 66 ... handle, 68 ... guide rod, 70 ... sliding member, 72 ... electric motor (drive source) 74 ... Transmission mechanism, 76 ... Rotation direction conversion mechanism, 78 ... Transmission rod, 80, 84 ... Bevel gear, 88 ... Groove, 94 ... Cover, 94a, 94b, 94c ... Cylindrical body of cover, 98 ... Control panel, 100 ... Chain mechanism (transmission mechanism), 102, 104 ... Chain, 106, 108 ... Cover.

Claims (1)

A water tank (12),
A belt conveyor (14) disposed in the water tank (12) so as to be movable up and down;
A vertical movement mechanism (56) for moving the belt conveyor (14) up and down;
A drive source (72) disposed at a position not in contact with water stored in the water tank (12) and driving the belt conveyor (14);
A transmission mechanism (74) capable of following up and down movement of the belt conveyor (14) and transmitting a driving force of the driving source (72) to a belt pulley (34) of the belt conveyor (14);
An underwater walking apparatus for animals comprising a cover (94) that can follow the vertical movement of the belt conveyor (14) and covers the transmission mechanism (74).

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