JP7113519B2 - small animal treadmill - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a small animal treadmill apparatus used in medical experiments on small animals such as mice.

Conventionally, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, a treadmill having a conveyor-type running surface and moving a small animal forward by moving the running surface backward, and surrounding the treadmill. There was a fatigue model animal preparation device equipped with an enclosure wall that prevented small animals from getting off the track surface, and an electrical stimulator that gave electrical stimulation to the small animals at the rear end of the track surface. This invention is made by the inventor of the present application.

This fatigue model animal preparation device is a device for preparing fatigue model animals necessary for research on chronic stress-induced sleep disorders and the like. A model animal can be created efficiently.

Utility Model Registration No. 3215859

The apparatus for preparing a fatigue model animal of Patent Document 1 is configured to forcibly prompt a small animal to walk at a high speed by applying electrical stimulation to the small animal. However, electrical stimulation is an unpleasant stimulus that small animals have never experienced before, so when they receive electrical stimulation, they jump up in surprise or try to run away in an unfamiliar direction. Therefore, there have been cases where a small animal hits or gets caught in the device and is injured. In addition, if the person in charge of the experiment did not stop the device, the fatigue model animal preparation device would continue to give electrical stimulation to the exhausted small animals, which occasionally caused the death of the small animals.

The present invention has been made in view of the above background art, and provides a treadmill device for small animals of a simple structure that can gently and safely give small animals a stimulus that encourages them to walk at a higher speed. intended to

The present invention is a treadmill apparatus for small animals used in medical experiments, the treadmill having a conveyor-type running surface and moving the running surface backward to cause the small animal to walk forward; An enclosure wall surrounds the treadmill and prevents small animals from getting off the running surface, and a base on which the treadmill and the enclosure wall are installed. It has a rear wall plate for preventing it from getting off from the rear end of the road surface, the rear wall plate is arranged upright above the road surface, and the upper end moves integrally with the base. The rear wall plate is fixed to the mounting portion and has a lower portion that can be displaced rearward. When a small animal on the running surface contacts the lower portion of the rear wall plate and the small animal does not run forward, A treadmill for small animals in which the lower part is pushed open by the small animal and the small animal is carried out from the rear end of the running surface.

The rear wall plate is made of a material having flexibility and elasticity, and can be configured to bend rearward when the lower portion is pressed with a force greater than or equal to a certain level. In this case, a plurality of types of the rear wall plates having different degrees of flexibility and elasticity are prepared, and the upper end portion of each rear wall plate and the mounting portion are detachable from each other. is preferred. Moreover, it is preferable that the upper end portion of the rear wall plate and the mounting portion are provided with a height adjusting mechanism for adjusting the height of the rear wall plate with respect to the running surface. The treadmill device for small animals according to claim 2 or 3.

Alternatively, the rear wall plate may be configured such that the upper end portion of the rear wall plate is rotatably suspended from the mounting portion via a hinge, and is rotated rearward when the lower portion is pressed with a force greater than a certain level. may Further, it is preferable that a storage pocket for storing a small animal carried out from the running surface is provided in the vicinity of the rear end of the treadmill. Furthermore, it is preferable that the base is supported by an inclination angle adjusting mechanism for adjusting the inclination angle of the running surface in the longitudinal direction.

The treadmill apparatus for small animals of the present invention has a rear wall plate that prevents small animals from getting off from the rear end of the track surface, the rear wall plate being erected above the track surface and is fixed to a mounting portion that moves integrally with the base, and the lower portion is in a state capable of being displaced in the rearward direction. By setting the easiness of displacement of the lower part to an appropriate value, when the walking speed of the small animal slows down and it contacts the lower part of the rear wall plate, the repulsive force of the lower part against the contact is generated. , it is a stimulus that encourages small animals to walk, and it is possible to safely give a gentler stimulus than electrical stimulation to small animals.

In addition, when the small animal does not run forward even if it touches the lower part and is stimulated, it is considered to be in a state of exhaustion. It is strongly pushed by the body of the dog and opens wide rearward, and the small animal is automatically carried out from the rear end of the running surface, so that the small animal can be secured safely.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a front view (a), (b) which shows the external appearance of one Embodiment of the treadmill apparatus for small animals of this invention. It is the front view (a) which shows the structure inside the housing|casing of the treadmill apparatus for small animals of this embodiment, and the front view (a) which shows operation|movement of this apparatus. It is a front view (a) and (b) which shows operation|movement of the treadmill apparatus for small animals of this embodiment.

An embodiment of the treadmill device for small animals of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A small animal treadmill apparatus 10 of this embodiment is an apparatus for medical experiments targeting small animals S such as mice, and is installed on the upper surface of a base 12 as shown in FIGS. , a treadmill 16 installed inside the housing 14, and an inclination angle adjusting mechanism 18 supporting the base 12 from below.

As shown in FIG. 2(a), the treadmill 16 has a drive-side pulley 16a on the rear side and a driven-side pulley on the front side. By doing so, a running surface 16d is formed. The treadmill 16 forces the small animal S on the track surface 16a to walk forward by moving the track surface 16d backward.

The treadmill 16 is surrounded by an enclosure wall 20 that prevents the small animal S from getting off the running surface 16d. The surrounding wall 20 has a front wall 20a and left and right side walls 20b formed by side plates of the housing 14, and a rear wall formed by a rear wall plate 22 separate from the housing 14. . The rear wall plate 22 is a plate that prevents the small animal S from descending from the rear end of the running surface 16d.

The rear wall plate 22 is formed of a material having flexibility and elasticity such as rubber, and is arranged upright above the rear end portion of the running surface 16d. It is fixed to the mounting portion 24a of the attached T-shaped metal fitting 24, and the lower portion 22b is displaceable in the front-rear direction due to its own flexibility. The ease of bending of the lower part 22b is set so that it does not bend very much when pressed with a weak force, but bends to a state where an opening through which the small animal S can pass is formed by pressing with a force above a certain level. It is

A part of the top plate of the housing 14 can be opened and closed in order to put the small animal S therein. In addition, a storage pocket 26 having a size that accommodates a small animal S is installed at the rear end of the housing 14 . The storage pocket 26 is installed near the rear end of the treadmill 16 to receive and secure the small animal S when the lower portion 22b of the rear wall plate 22 is opened and the small animal S is carried out. A small animal S housed in the housing pocket 26 can be taken out from a take-out opening 28 provided in the housing 14 .

As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the tilt angle adjustment mechanism 18 is a mechanism that can vary the tilt angle of the base 12 in the front-rear direction, and adjusts the tilt angle in the front-rear direction of the running surface 16d of the treadmill 16. used to adjust the tilt angle of the For example, if the front side is raised as shown in FIG. 1(b), the stress given to the small animal S can be increased.

Next, the operation of the small animal treadmill device 10 will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2(b), a small animal S is placed inside the enclosure wall 20. Then, as shown in FIG. When the treadmill 16 is driven to move the track surface 16a backward, the small animal S starts walking forward.

Since the walking speed of the small animal S is high while it is healthy, it walks near the front wall 20a. gradually retreats and approaches the rear wall plate 22, and the body of the small animal S comes into contact with the lower part 22b of the rear wall plate 22 before long. At this time, if the force pressing the lower portion 22b is weak, the lower portion 22b does not bend so much, and the repulsive force of the lower portion 22b against the contact acts as a stimulus to encourage the small animal to walk faster. After being stimulated, the small animal S increases its walking speed again and walks near the front wall 20a.

Thereafter, when the small animal S becomes exhausted and unable to walk, for example, when it sits down on the running surface 16d, as shown in FIG. The lower portion 22b of plate 22 is contacted. At this time, since the small animal S does not move, the movement of the running surface 16d of the treadmill 16 causes the lower part 22b to be pushed by a force corresponding to the static friction force between the small animal S and the running surface 16d, moving backward. It bends greatly to form an opening through which the small animal S can pass, and the small animal S is carried out through this opening. The carried-out small animal S is received in the storage pocket 26 and is safely secured. Therefore, the flexibility and resilience of the rear wall plate 22 such as a rubber plate is an elasticity that allows the small animal S positioned on the track surface 16d of the treadmill 16 to bend as the track surface 16d moves. When the small animal S touches it, it can be a stimulus to encourage running.

As described above, the small animal treadmill apparatus 10 has the unique configuration as described above. Therefore, when the walking speed of the small animal S slows down and comes into contact with the lower portion 22b of the rear wall plate 22, the small animal will A gentler stimulus (the repulsive force of the lower portion 22b) than electrical stimulus can be appropriately given to S. Also, when the small animal S does not run forward even though it touches the lower part 22b and is stimulated, it is considered that the small animal S is already exhausted. Since it is automatically carried out from the rear end, the small animal S can be secured safely.

In order for the treadmill device 10 for small animals to reliably perform the above-described excellent operation, the lower portion 22b of the rear wall plate 22 is flexible, and when the rear wall plate 22 is installed, It is necessary to appropriately adjust the gap between the lower end portion 22b and the running surface 16d according to the body size of the small animal. Therefore, in order to facilitate these adjustments, a plurality of types of rear wall plates 22 with different degrees of flexibility and elasticity are prepared, and the upper end of each rear wall plate 22 is designed so that it can be freely replaced according to the situation. It is preferable that the portion 22a and the attachment portion 24a are configured to be detachable from each other. Moreover, it is preferable to provide a height adjustment mechanism for adjusting the mounting height at the upper end portion 22a and the mounting portion 24a.

The treadmill device for small animals of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the rear wall plate of the enclosure may have a different construction than the rear wall plate 22 made of flexible and resilient material as described above. For example, the rear wall plate is made of rigid resin or the like that does not have flexibility, and its upper end is rotatably suspended from the mounting portion via a hinge. Furthermore, if necessary, a torsion coil spring or the like that receives a torsional moment may be attached to the rotating shaft so that the rear wall plate rotates when receiving a force greater than a certain amount in the rearward direction. can. Even with such a configuration change, the same effects as those of the treadmill device 10 for small animals can be obtained.

The small animal treadmill device 10 described above includes an inclination angle adjusting mechanism for adjusting the inclination angle of the running surface 16a, but the inclination angle adjusting mechanism may be omitted if adjustment of the inclination angle is unnecessary. Alternatively, the inside of the housing 14 may be divided into a plurality of rooms, a treadmill, an enclosure wall, or the like may be installed in each room to allow a plurality of small animals to walk individually. In addition, like the fatigue model animal preparation device of Patent Document 1, a position detection sensor that detects the position of the small animal on the treadmill and data for calculating the degree of fatigue of the small animal are created and displayed. A display device may be attached so that the degree of fatigue of the small animal can be objectively grasped.

In addition, the treadmill apparatus for small animals can be used for various medical experiments, and the contents of the experiments are not particularly limited. For example, it is suitable for experiments in which a fatigue model animal is produced by applying a predetermined stress, and in experiments aimed at increasing the muscle strength of small animals, but it may also be used in other experiments.

10 Small Animal Treadmill Apparatus 12 Base 14 Housing 16 Treadmill 16d Running Surface 18 Inclination Adjustment Mechanism 20 Surrounding Wall 22 Rear Wall Plate 22a Upper End 22b Lower Part 24 T-shaped Bracket 24a Mounting Portion 26 Storage Pocket 28 Extraction Port

Claims (7)

In small animal treadmill equipment used in medical experiments,
a treadmill having a conveyor-type track surface and moving the track surface backward to allow small animals to walk forward; and a base on which the treadmill and the enclosure are mounted;
The enclosure wall has a rear wall plate for preventing small animals from getting down from the rear end of the running surface, and the rear wall plate is arranged upright above the running surface and has an upper end portion. is fixed to a mounting portion that moves integrally with the base, and the lower portion can be displaced in the rearward direction,
When a small animal on the track surface touches the lower part of the rear wall plate and the small animal does not run forward, the lower part of the rear wall plate is pushed open by the small animal, and the small animal moves on the track surface. A treadmill apparatus for small animals, characterized in that it is carried out from the rear end. 2. The treadmill apparatus for small animals according to claim 1, wherein said rear wall plate is made of a material having flexibility and elasticity, and bends rearward when the lower portion is pressed with a force above a certain level. 3. A small animal according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of types of said rear wall plates having different degrees of flexibility and elasticity are prepared, and the upper end portions and said mounting portions of said respective rear wall plates are provided so as to be detachable from each other. treadmill equipment for. The treadmill device for small animals according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the upper end portion of the rear wall plate and the mounting portion are provided with a height adjusting mechanism for adjusting the height of the rear wall plate with respect to the running surface. 2. The rear wall plate according to claim 1, wherein the upper end portion of the rear wall plate is rotatably suspended from the mounting portion via a hinge, and the lower portion of the rear wall plate rotates rearward when pressed with a force greater than a certain level. small animal treadmill equipment. The small animal treadmill apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a storage pocket for storing the small animal carried out from the running surface is provided in the vicinity of the rear end of the treadmill. The treadmill device for small animals according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the base is supported by an inclination angle adjusting mechanism for adjusting the inclination angle of the running surface in the longitudinal direction.

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