JP3223257U - Animal breeding equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is an animal breeding device that can perform feeding management without touching animals and breeding cages, and hardly cause microbial infection to animals. An external controller includes a feeding management unit that automatically creates feeding command information. The breeding cage 14 includes a cage body 16 that accommodates animals, a food container 22 that stores food 20 and feeds food 20 to the animals from the food window 22a, a shutter device 24 that opens and closes the food window 22a, and an external controller 12. And a wireless communication device 32 that performs wireless communication between them. Furthermore, the breeding cage 14 accesses the external controller 12 via the wireless communication device 32, executes processing for obtaining the feeding command information Kj, and controls the operation of the shutter device 24 based on the obtained feeding command information Kj. A control device 34 and a battery 36 for supplying power to the breeding cage 14 are provided. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an animal breeding device for raising animals.

In recent years, researches on obesity and various diseases associated with it (metabolic syndrome) have been actively conducted using animals. Since this type of research requires strict control of the feeding of animals during the experiment, there is a need for an animal breeding device that can perform feeding management automatically and accurately.

Conventionally, as disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1, a cage for housing an animal, a bait container (bait box) having a bait window, and a shutter device (shutter and shutter) for opening and closing the bait window of the bait container There has been an automatic food intake measuring device including a drive unit), a bait weight sensor that detects the bait weight of the bait container, and a control device that controls opening and closing of the shutter based on the bait weight detection result. This apparatus is configured by connecting an external controller such as a personal computer to the apparatus body.

JP 2007-306860 A

In order to protect experimental animals from microbial infection, it is important that humans do not touch the body of the device such as a cage in which the animals live. A method of individually ventilating the living spaces of a plurality of animals is also effective.

However, in the case of the automatic food intake measuring device of Patent Document 1, a personal computer touched by a person is connected to the device body via a cable. In addition, although not specified in Patent Document 1, a commercial voltage of an outlet is normally supplied to an electronic device of the apparatus main body through a cable. Therefore,
Since this automatic food intake measuring device is substantially structured to be touched by humans, it is difficult to reliably prevent microbial infection of animals.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described background art, and provides an animal breeding apparatus that can perform feeding management without touching animals and breeding cages and that is unlikely to cause microbial infection in animals. For the purpose.

The present invention is an animal breeding apparatus for breeding an animal for medical experiments composed of an external controller and a breeding cage, wherein the external controller includes a feeding management unit that automatically creates feeding command information, The breeding cage performs wireless communication between a cage body that accommodates animals, a food container that stores food and feeds the food to the animals from a food window, a shutter device that opens and closes the food window, and the external controller. A wireless communication device for performing access to the external controller via the wireless communication device, executing processing for acquiring the feeding command information, and performing an operation of the shutter device based on the content of the acquired feeding command information. It is an animal breeding apparatus provided with the control apparatus which controls, and the battery which supplies electric power to the said breeding cage.

The said control apparatus accesses the said external controller, performs the process which acquires the said feeding command information, and when the said feeding command information is not acquired, it will become the load of the said battery in the apparatus which comprises the said breeding cage. It is preferable that the apparatus is switched from the normal operation mode to the low power consumption operation mode, then returned to the normal operation mode at an appropriate timing, and the process of acquiring the feeding command information is executed again.

According to the animal breeding device of the present invention, the external controller and each device of the breeding cage cooperate,
Feeding management for animals can be performed automatically and accurately. In addition, since a wireless communication device and a battery are provided so that the breeding cage can operate wirelessly, feeding management can be performed without touching the animals and the breeding cage, and microbial infection occurs in the animals. Hateful. In addition, in order to further enhance the effect of preventing microbial infection, it is easy to modify the living space of a plurality of animals into a structure that individually ventilates.

It is a figure which shows one Embodiment of the animal breeding apparatus of this invention, Comprising: The schematic diagram (a) which shows the state by which the bait window was open | released, AA sectional drawing (b). It is the schematic diagram (a) which shows the state by which the food window of the animal breeding apparatus of FIG. 1 was closed with the shutter, and AA sectional drawing (b).

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the animal breeding apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The animal breeding device 10 of this embodiment is a device for breeding animals for medical experiments such as a mouse.
As shown in FIG. 2, the external controller 12 and the breeding cage 14 are used.

The external controller 12 includes a feeding management unit 12a that creates feeding command information Kj indicating whether or not to feed animals. The feeding management unit 12a executes a feeding management program installed in advance, and “performs feeding” according to a prescribed time schedule.
Alternatively, the feeding command information Kj having the content “stop feeding” is automatically created.

The breeding cage 10 includes a cage body 16 that is a box-shaped container for housing animals, and the cage body 1.
6 and a canopy 18 that closes the upper end opening. A bait container 22 for storing bait 20 is installed below the canopy 18. The bait container 22 is formed in a rectangular tube shape with both ends closed,
It is installed with the central axis facing sideways, and the top surface is open to serve as a bait inlet. Bait container 22
A plurality of slit-shaped bait windows 22a are provided on the lower surface side so that animals in the cage body 16 can eat the bait 20.

In the vicinity of the bait container 22, a shutter device 24 for opening and closing the bait window 22a is installed. The shutter device 24 includes a shutter 26 having a size capable of covering the plurality of bait windows 22a, and a shutter driving unit 28 that moves the shutter 26. The shutter 26 is a member obtained by bending a flat plate material into a substantially arc shape, and is disposed so as to face the outside of the rectangular tube-shaped side surface of the bait container 22 and is fixed at substantially the same position as the central axis of the bait container 22. A pair of shaft portions 30 are rotatably supported. The shutter drive unit 28 is configured by a motor or the like, and rotates the shutter 26 around the shaft 30 to bring the bait window 22a into an open state (FIG. 1) or a closed state (FIG. 2).

In the vicinity of the shutter drive unit 28, there are a wireless communication device 32 that performs wireless communication with the external controller 12, a control device 34 that controls the operation of the shutter device 24, and a battery 36 that supplies power to the breeding cage 14. is set up. The control device 34 accesses the external controller 12 via the wireless communication device 32, performs processing for obtaining the feeding command information Kj created by the feeding management unit 12a, and shutters based on the content of the obtained feeding command information Kj. The drive unit 28 is operated. Here, the power supply targets of the battery 36 are the shutter drive unit 28 and the wireless communication device 32.
In addition, when the electronic device such as an electronic circuit or a display device is mounted in addition to this, power is supplied to these devices.

Further, the control device 34 performs the following operation in order to suppress the power consumption of the battery 36 as much as possible. The control device 34 performs processing for accessing the external controller 12 to acquire the feeding command information Kj. When the feeding command information Kj is not acquired, the electronic device (shutter driving unit 28, wireless communication) that becomes a load of the battery 36 is obtained. Switch the device 32, the control device 34, etc.) from the normal operation mode to the low power consumption operation mode, and then return to the normal operation mode at an appropriate timing,
The process which acquires feeding command information Kj again is performed. In the power consumption operation mode, for example, unnecessary power consumption is achieved by turning off the power supply line to the shutter drive unit 28 and the wireless communication device 32 with an electronic switch or forcibly stopping some functions of the control device 34. Reduce power.
When the control device 34 performs this operation, the usable time of the battery 36 can be significantly extended.

In addition, the breeding cage 14 is provided with a water feeder 38 for supplying water to the animals.
The water supply unit 38 has a water supply nozzle 38b attached to the tip of a cylindrical container 38a.
When the cylindrical container 38 a is held on the upper surface of the holding portion 18 a formed by denting a part of the canopy 18, the water supply nozzle 38 b projects to the lower surface side of the canopy 18.

As described above, according to the animal breeding apparatus 10, the external controller 12 and each apparatus of the breeding cage 14 cooperate to automatically and accurately execute feeding management for animals.
In addition, the wireless communication device 32 and the battery 3 so that the breeding cage 14 can operate wirelessly.
6 is provided, it is possible to perform feeding management without touching the animal and the breeding cage 14 and it is difficult for microbial infection to occur in the animal. In addition, in order to further enhance the effect of preventing microbial infection, it is easy to modify the living space of a plurality of animals into a structure that individually ventilates.

In addition, the animal breeding apparatus of this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. For example, the method for creating feeding command information by the external controller is not particularly limited. In the above embodiment,
The feeding instruction information having the contents of “perform feeding” or “stop feeding” is created according to a specified time schedule. For example, the technology of the automatic food intake measuring device of Patent Document 1 is used. The timing for creating the feed command information may be determined in accordance with a prescribed rule based on the detection result of the feed weight.

The attachment structure and layout of the bait container, the shutter device, the wireless communication device, the control device, and the battery included in the breeding cage can be freely changed as long as the operation intended by the present invention is possible. In this case, the breeding cage is used in a form that is not touched by humans during the experiment, but when the experiment is completed, it is necessary to clean the inside or to wash with water, in particular, the shutter drive unit, the wireless communication device, It is preferable that electronic devices such as a control device and a battery have a structure that can be easily attached and detached.

In addition, the shape and size of the breeding cage can be freely changed. Moreover, you may attach other apparatuses, such as a running foil for animals, and a manure collection apparatus, to a breeding cage.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Animal breeding apparatus 12 External controller 12a Feeding management part 14 Breeding cage 16 Cage main body 20 Feeding 22 Feeding container 22a Feeding window 24 Shutter apparatus 26 Shutter 28 Shutter drive part 32 Wireless communication apparatus 34 Control apparatus 36 Battery

Claims (1)

In an animal breeding device for breeding animals for medical experiments composed of an external controller and a breeding cage,
The external controller includes a feeding management unit that automatically creates feeding command information,
The breeding cage wirelessly communicates between a cage main body that accommodates an animal, a food container that stores food and feeds the food to the animal from a food window, a shutter device that opens and closes the food window, and the external controller. A wireless communication device that performs access to the external controller via the wireless communication device, executes processing for acquiring the feeding command information, and operates the shutter device based on the content of the acquired feeding command information An animal breeding device comprising: a control device for controlling the power supply; and a battery for supplying power to the breeding cage.