JP3644906B2 - Individual environmental control breeding equipment for laboratory animals - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a breeding apparatus for laboratory animals such as mice, rats, guinea pigs and rabbits.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Laboratory animals are bred and managed in fields such as genetic manipulation experiments and experiments in which bacteria and viruses are planted to cause infection. There are facilities such as rearing equipment necessary for breeding and managing laboratory animals, and daily management is required for normal breeding of laboratory animals.
For example, in order to manage hygiene, replacement of flooring is an important and essential work, but replacement of flooring has conventionally been performed manually. However, the number of laboratory breeding rooms is usually large, and a lot of manpower is required to replace the floor covering. Therefore, it was eager among the parties concerned that if the replacement work of the flooring of the breeding room can be performed, it is automatically performed without using human hands.
In the existing microisolation device disclosed in, for example, US Pat. No. 5,165,362, replacement of the flooring material has to be done manually for each cage.
It has also been desired that the inside of the air supply and exhaust ducts can be easily cleaned in order to supply and exhaust air evenly to each cage and to protect the domestic animals from infection with harmful microorganisms.
Furthermore, it has been desired to always perform monitoring to quickly detect infections such as harmful microorganisms of domestic animals in cages.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to eliminate the work of replacing floor coverings by a large number of human hands in a laboratory animal breeding apparatus so that it can be automatically replaced. The purpose is to eliminate the difficulty of replacing the existing floor covering. Furthermore, animal excrement can be automatically removed.
Moreover, it aims at preventing the infection to the laboratory animal by the microorganisms etc. which originate in a human by significantly reducing human intervention.
Another object is to equalize the air supply and exhaust to each cage.
It is another object of the present invention to make it possible to easily clean the inside of the air supply and exhaust ducts to eliminate contamination by harmful microorganisms and prevent infection of domestic animals.
Furthermore, even if a domestic animal is infected with harmful microorganisms or the like, the environment is individually controlled for each cage, so that it is extremely rare to infect adjacent cages. Also, it aims to be able to detect and deal with early by monitoring.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rearing device in which a plurality of shelves are provided in a rack, and a plurality of rows of cages are detachably provided for each shelf, and animals are placed in each cage. An individual environment-controlled breeding system for laboratory animals in which a belt net is disposed under the cage row, and a belt conveyor is arranged below the cage row, and the belt of the belt conveyor is configured to be in contact with and non-contactable with the lower surface of each cage row. This is achieved by providing a device (hereinafter simply referred to as “laboratory animal breeding device” or “breeding device”).
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the belt conveyor moves in the vertical direction so that the belt of the belt conveyor can freely contact and non-contact with the lower surface of each cage in the cage row.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the air supply and exhaust ducts to each cage are provided with a plurality of branch pipes arranged in the vertical direction and horizontally arranged from each branch pipe. And a branch pipe to be connected.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a part of the air supply and exhaust ducts can be opened and closed or removed.
In addition, the invention described in claim 5 is configured to include means for monitoring infection of microorganisms, etc. of the rearing experimental animals in the cage.
Furthermore, the invention according to claim 6 is configured such that each of the cages has a vacant bottom surface, and the belt of the belt conveyor can be contacted so as to block the bottom surface of each cage.
[0005]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a laboratory animal breeding apparatus according to the present invention.
A single rack 1 is provided with a plurality of shelves 2, and a plurality of rows of cages 3 are installed on each shelf. Depending on the size of the animal, for example, in the case of mice, several cages are usually kept together in each cage 3. 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 feed / floor insertion port, and the breeding environment in each cage 3 is controlled. Each cage 3 has a sealed structure, and animals inside it breathe and drink drinking water through air supply, exhaust and water supply ports. Further, exhaust from each cage 3 is prevented from being mixed into other cages 3 to prevent mass infection. It is preferable that the arrangement and connection of the air supply ducts and exhaust ducts of the entire rack 1 be in the vertical direction, because the inside of the duct can be easily cleaned.
[0006]
In each cage 3, a floor net that supports animals is arranged, and this floor net is removably supported by the cage 3. In addition, there is a floor-laying inlet at the top of each cage 3, from which a material for flooring, for example sawdust, is dropped into the cage and supplied. Further, a belt conveyor is disposed below each cage row, and the belt surface is normally in close contact with the bottom surface of each cage 3. The bottom surface of each cage 3 is open, and the belt surface closes the bottom of each cage 3 in a sealed state. The floor covering material is supplied into the cage 3 from the supply section, and is deposited above the belt, and a part of the floor covering material is also deposited above the floor net to constitute an animal floor covering. The cage 3 may be made of metal or resin. The shape is not particularly limited except that the bottom surface is vacant.
[0007]
By the way, the belt conveyor is slidably supported by the frame of the rack 1 so that it can move forward (to the left in FIG. 1) by a predetermined distance, and when moving further forward, as will be described in detail later. It is configured to move downward by a certain distance. As shown in FIG. 1, on the side of the rack 1, a cart 4 provided with a floor covering collection device, a belt cleaning device, a belt sterilization device, and the like is provided. These devices are installed on a gantry 5, and the gantry 5 can be moved up and down by an elevating motor 10. The carriage 4 is normally installed separately from the rack 1, but when collecting floor coverings and washing the belt, it is attached to the side of the rack 1 so that it can be installed on either the left or right side, and the gantry 5 is attached to each rack 1. Moving to the shelf 2 in sequence, floor covering collection and belt cleaning are performed. The rack 1 and the carriage 4 both have casters below and can move freely.
[0008]
FIG. 2 is a side view of the main part showing the structure of the floor covering recovery and belt cleaning apparatus.
The belt conveyor arranged below the rack row is supported by a frame 11, and the front and rear of the belt 12 are bridged between a head pulley 18 and a tail pulley 15 installed in the width direction, respectively. The belt 12 is an endless belt and can be rotated endlessly. However, for convenience of explanation, the upper belt is referred to as an upper belt 12a and the lower belt is referred to as a lower belt 12b. Here, referring to FIG. 4, since the position of the tail pulley 15 can be moved in the front-rear direction by rotating the bolt 22, it is possible to apply an appropriate tension to the belt 12. As described above, normally, the upper belt 12a is in contact with the bottom surface of each cage 3, and each cage 3 is in a sealed state.
[0009]
By the way, at the time of flooring replacement, the above-described carriage 4 is installed on the side of the rack 1, and the pedestal 5 is lowered in order from the upper shelf by the lifting motor 10. A convex metal fitting 17 is attached to the front end of the frame 11 that supports the belt conveyor. At this time, the tip of the arm 7 attached to the gantry 5 engages with the metal fitting 17 of the frame 11 (see FIG. 3). When the conveyor pulling motor 6 operates in this state, the entire frame 11 is pulled out to the near side. As can be seen with reference to FIG. 2, wheels 13 are attached to a plurality of locations on both sides of the frame 11, and the wheels 13 are on top of the peaks of the fixed rail 14 having peaks 14 a and valleys (flat portions) 14 b. The upper belt 12a is in close contact with the bottom surface of each cage 3 in this state as described above.
[0010]
When the frame 11 is pulled forward as described above, the wheel 13 of the frame 11 descends from the crest 14a to the trough 14b of the fixed rail 14 and the entire frame 11 descends accordingly. The belt 12a is separated from the bottom surface of each cage 3 and is in a non-contact state. At the same time, the belt conveyor rotating gear 19 attached coaxially to the head pulley 18 at the front end of the frame 11 meshes with the driving gear 20 attached to the mount 5. FIG. 7 shows the drive mechanism on the gantry 5 side. According to this, the output of the drive motor 8 is sent to the belt conveyor rotating gear 19 via the gear 28, the stepped belt 21, the gear 29, and the gear 20. The belt 12 is driven to rotate. Reference numeral 26 denotes a support frame of the gantry 5 and 27 denotes a bearing.
[0011]
As already described, the frame 11 is pulled out toward the front, and at the same time, the entire frame 11 is lowered by a certain distance. At this time, the flooring material that has been accumulated in each cage 3 until then is separated from the bottom surface of the belt 12. It falls on (upper belt 12a). As shown in FIG. 7, since the cleaning rotary brush 9 extending in the width direction is fixed coaxially with the gears 29 and 20, the floor covering material deposited on the fed belt 12 is the belt 12. While being transported up, it is scraped off and collected by the rotating brush 9. In this way, the cleaned belt 12 is further sterilized and disinfected with the chemical liquid discharged from the chemical liquid tank 25 (see FIG. 6).
[0012]
After cleaning the belt 12, the frame 11 is returned to the original position. The wheel 13 of the frame rides on the mountain 14 a of the fixed rail 14 again, and the belt 12 comes into close contact with the bottom surface of each cage 3. The belt 12 becomes clean, and a new floor covering material is supplied to the cage 3. During this time, the animals in the cage 3 are supported by the floor net.
In addition, when the said frame 11 is pulled out and a clearance gap arises between the cage 3 and the belt 12, it controls so that the air supply amount to the cage 3 may be increased.
[0013]
Further, the bait is individually fed by a feeding device having a sealable structure as shown in FIG. The bait is sterilized in advance and stored in a feeding device. In the structure shown in FIG. 5, the bait is weighed to a constant amount by the drum portion 23, and then conveyed to the lower supply port. The supply port 24 is opened by the weight of the bait and is supplied into the cage 3.
[0014]
Next, another embodiment of the belt conveyor frame vertical lifting structure will be described.
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the vertical lifting structure of the belt conveyor frame, FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction in FIG. 8, and FIG. 10 is a schematic enlarged view of portion A in FIG.
Four front and rear wheels 31 are attached to the left and right sides of the belt conveyor frame 30 and ride on a rail 32. As shown in FIG. 10, the rail 32 has a horizontal surface above the mountain, an inclined surface, and a horizontal surface below the mountain (valley). 9, the rail 32 is fixed to a slide guide 33 guided by a guide rail 34 attached to the rack 35. Therefore, when the rail 32 moves back and forth by the lever 38 by a distance D (one stroke), the belt conveyor frame 30 moves up and down along the inclined surface of the rail 32. At this time, the guide plate 37 attached to the belt conveyor frame 30 is engaged with the upper and lower guides 36 attached to the rack 35, so that the movement of the belt conveyor frame 30 in the horizontal direction is restricted, and the rail 32 is moved back and forth. The belt conveyor frame 30 is configured to move only in the vertical direction when it is reciprocated.
[0015]
Next, the structure of the air supply and exhaust ducts in the breeding apparatus of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 11A is a front view showing the overall configuration of the apparatus, FIG. 11B is a left side view thereof, and FIG. 11C is a plan view thereof. 12A is a rear view showing the overall configuration of the apparatus, and FIG. 12B is a right side view thereof. FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a branch pipe structure of an air supply and exhaust duct, and FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a connection structure between the branch pipe and the branch pipe. (A) of FIG. 15 is a principal part rear view which shows the flow of the air supply of a rack back surface, (b) is the principal part top view. FIG. 16A is a main part rear view showing the flow of exhaust on the back of the rack, and FIG. 16B is a main part plan view thereof. 17A is a cross-sectional view of the air supply device, FIG. 17B is an external view thereof, FIG. 18A is a cross-sectional view of the exhaust device, and FIG. 17B is an external view thereof.
[0016]
An air supply port 39 from the air supply device is provided at the upper part of the rack, and a main air supply pipe 47 is horizontally provided facing the air supply port 39, and a plurality of vertical air supply pipes 47 are arranged below the main air supply pipe 47. Branch pipes 41... 42 are attached. A plurality of branch pipes 43, 44 are attached from each branch pipe in the horizontal direction, and the tips of the branch pipes 43, 44 are connected to the air supply port or the exhaust port of each cage 3. The supply branch pipes 41 and the exhaust branch pipes 42 are alternately arranged (see FIG. 13 and the like), and the branch pipes 43 attached to the supply branch pipes 41 are supplied to the cages 3. A branch pipe 44 connected to the vent and attached to the branch pipe 42 for exhaust is connected to the exhaust outlet of each cage 3. The distal end portion of the branch pipe 43 on the cage connection side is provided with a small-diameter stainless steel pipe 43b, a packing 43a, and the like to ensure airtightness at the time of connection. Therefore, each cage 3 is connected to two branch pipes 41 and 42 for supply and exhaust, respectively. In addition, in the plurality of branch pipes 43 provided in the vertical direction of the air supply branch pipe 41, the lower branch pipe diameter is appropriately reduced in order to equalize the amount of air supplied to each cage 3 in the vertical direction (reduction in diameter). It is also possible.
[0017]
The supply air from the supply port 39 passes through the main supply pipe 47 and enters the upper part of each supply branch pipe 41... The air is supplied into each cage 3 through the air. The arrows in FIG. 15 indicate the flow of air supply. Then, the exhaust from each cage 3 enters the branch pipes 42 for exhaust through the branch pipes 44, flows downward through the branch pipes 42, and the exhaust from the branch pipes 42. Collected by the pipe 48, the exhausts of the cages 3 are sent together again and discharged from the upper exhaust port 40. The arrows in FIG. 16 indicate the flow of exhaust.
An air supply device is attached to the air supply port 39, and an air exhaust device is attached to the exhaust port 40. The air supply device 49 has a fan 50, an ultra-high performance filter (from the bottom) as shown in FIG. HEPA filter) 51 and pre-filter (coarse filter) 52 are combined, and exhaust device 53 is configured by combining pre-filter 52, ultra-high performance filter 51 and fan 50 from the bottom as shown in FIG.
[0018]
With the above configuration of the air supply and exhaust ducts, the air supply and exhaust to each cage 3 can be equalized.
In addition, water is supplied to each cage 3 using a water supply nozzle 45 from a water supply pipe 46.
Here, the configuration of the cage 3 will be further supplemented.
FIG. 19A is a side view of the upper portion of the cage, and FIG. 19B is another side view. FIG. 20 is a side view showing the water supply port at the lower part of the cage, FIG. 21A is a view showing the structure of the air supply port and the exhaust port to the cage, and FIG. Moreover, (a) of FIG. 22 is a figure which shows the feeding port structure to a cage, (b) is the sectional side view.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 19, a lid 54 is placed on the upper part of each cage 3 so as to maintain the sealing property. The air supply port 55 and the exhaust port 56 are provided on one side surface of the lid 54, and the feeding / flooring input port 57 is provided on the other side surface. Furthermore, a water supply port 58 is provided on one side of each cage 3 as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 21, covers 55a and 56a urged in a closing direction by a coil spring 59 are attached to the air supply port 55 and the exhaust port 56, and the aforementioned branch pipes 43 and 44 are pushed in. It is configured to be set by. Further, as shown in FIG. 22, a cover 57a urged in a closing direction by a coil spring 60 is also attached to the feeding / floor insertion slot 57. During feeding, the cover 57a is pushed inward to feed. To do.
[0020]
Next, cleaning of the air supply and exhaust ducts described above will be described.
In the breeding apparatus of the present invention, the air supply and exhaust ducts can be cleaned. For example, as shown in FIG. 23, a part of the main air supply pipe 47 is configured to be openable and closable by providing a lid 63 that can be fixed at one end with a hinge 61 and fixed at the other end with a stopper 62. The lid 63 is opened, and cleaning water (clean water) or the like is poured from above to clean the inside of each duct. After washing and drying, the lid 63 is closed to keep the sealing property.
Further, as shown in FIG. 24, by adopting a joining structure in which the upper and lower ends of the branch pipes 41,... 42 in the vertical direction can be removed, these branch pipes can be removed and cleaned. For example, when the branch pipe is a rectangular duct, the flange 64 is a bolted structure, and when the branch pipe is a round duct, the flange 64 is a hinged structure.
[0021]
Thus, contamination by harmful microorganisms or the like can be prevented by adopting a configuration in which the air supply and exhaust ducts can be easily and sufficiently cleaned.
Next, monitoring of harmful microorganisms will be described.
As shown in FIG. 25, the breeding apparatus of the present invention is provided with a collection part 66 for monitoring microorganisms or the like in an exhaust part 65 where exhausts from all the cages 3 in the rack 1 gather, and collects the sample. Monitoring is always possible by analyzing with an analysis device such as microorganisms. The exhaust unit 65 is, for example, in front of the exhaust unit 53 described above, and for example, a collection filter is installed by a known appropriate means. In this case, depending on the flow of exhaust (depending on the piping structure), it can be installed at the end as shown in FIG. 26 (a) or at the center as shown in (b). As another embodiment, a small-diameter bypass duct is attached to the exhaust collecting part 65, a collecting part for microorganisms or the like is provided in the duct part of the bypass, and the sample is collected and analyzed by an analyzer for microorganisms or the like. Is also possible.
[0022]
By the way, as described above, when bacteria and viruses are monitored from the exhaust of all cages, a filter is placed in a bouillon and cultured for 24 hours, and then the upper solution is spread on various selective media and cultured for 24 to 48 hours. Examine various selected media. For viruses, the filter is washed with sterile water, the water is centrifuged, and the precipitate is examined by PCR. The PCR method is a method in which a very small amount of DNA is amplified several million times using a DNA polymerase chain reaction and detected.
In this way, collection is performed at the position where exhaust from each cage gathers, and if any animal is infected, it is possible to infect early by collecting microorganisms etc. that are discharging dust from the breath or atmosphere. Monitoring can be performed.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the laboratory animal breeding apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to automatically replace the floor covering, which conventionally required a lot of manpower. In addition, by significantly reducing human intervention, it is possible to prevent infection of laboratory animals by human-derived microorganisms. Further, unlike the conventional manual floor replacement operation, it is not necessary to make the entire breeding room for housing the breeding apparatus an ultra-clean space, which is effective in saving energy and reducing equipment costs.
Further, according to the present invention, by equalizing the supply and exhaust of air to each cage, it is possible to eliminate variations in the air quality environment in the cage and to realize a favorable environment suitable for breeding laboratory animals.
Further, according to the present invention, since the inside of the air supply and exhaust ducts can be easily and sufficiently cleaned, infection of domestic animals due to harmful microorganisms can be prevented.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, even if a domestic animal is infected with harmful microorganisms or the like, it can be detected and dealt with early by constantly monitoring.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a laboratory animal breeding apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of an essential part showing the structure of a floor covering recovery and belt cleaning apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a pulling means of a belt conveyor frame.
FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of belt tension adjusting means;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a feeding device.
FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a structure of a belt cleaning and sterilizing / disinfecting apparatus.
FIG. 7 is a plan view of an essential part showing a drive mechanism on the gantry side;
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a vertical lifting structure of a belt conveyor frame.
9 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction in FIG. 8;
10 is a schematic enlarged view of a portion A in FIG.
11A is a front view showing the overall configuration of the apparatus, FIG. 11B is a left side view thereof, and FIG. 11C is a plan view thereof.
12A is a rear view showing the overall configuration of the apparatus, and FIG. 12B is a right side view thereof.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a branch pipe structure of an air supply and exhaust duct.
FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a connection structure between a branch pipe and a branch pipe.
FIG. 15A is a main part rear view showing the flow of air supply on the rear face of the rack, and FIG. 15B is a main part plan view thereof;
FIG. 16A is a main part rear view showing the flow of exhaust on the rear side of the rack, and FIG. 16B is a main part plan view thereof;
17A is a cross-sectional view of an air supply device, and FIG. 17B is an external view thereof.
18A is a cross-sectional view of an exhaust device, and FIG. 18B is an external view thereof.
19A is a side view of the upper part of the cage, and FIG. 19B is another side view thereof.
FIG. 20 is a side view showing a water supply port at the lower part of the cage.
FIG. 21A is a view showing a structure of an air inlet and an outlet for a cage, and FIG. 21B is a plan sectional view thereof.
FIG. 22A is a diagram showing a feeding port structure for a cage, and FIG. 22B is a side sectional view thereof.
FIG. 23 is a cross-sectional view showing a duct opening / closing structure.
FIG. 24 is a schematic view showing a duct removal structure.
FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining the principle of monitoring.
FIG. 26 is a configuration diagram of a means for collecting microorganisms and the like.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 rack 2 shelf 3 cage 4 carriage 5 mount 9 rotating brush 11 frame 12 belt 13 wheel 14 rail 25 chemical tank

Claims (6)

  A rearing device in which a plurality of shelves are provided in a rack, 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, and the lower portion of the cage row An individual environment control breeding apparatus for laboratory animals, characterized in that a belt conveyor is disposed in the belt conveyor, and the belt of the belt conveyor is configured to be in contact with and non-contact with the lower surface of each cage in the cage row.   2. The individual environment control for laboratory animals according to claim 1, wherein the belt conveyor is configured to move up and down so that the belt of the belt conveyor can freely contact and non-contact with the lower surface of each cage of the cage row. Rearing equipment.   The air supply and exhaust ducts to each cage include a plurality of branch pipes arranged in the vertical direction and branch pipes arranged in the horizontal direction from each branch pipe and connected to each cage. The individual environment control breeding apparatus for laboratory animals according to claim 1.   4. The individual environment control breeding apparatus for laboratory animals according to claim 3, wherein a part of the air supply and exhaust ducts can be opened and closed or removed.   The individual environment control breeding apparatus for laboratory animals according to claim 1, further comprising means for monitoring infection of microorganisms etc. of the breeding laboratory animals in the cage.   2. The individual environment control breeding apparatus for laboratory animals according to claim 1, wherein each cage has a free bottom surface and is configured to be contactable so that a belt of the belt conveyor closes the bottom surface of each cage.

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