JPH0319723Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] The present invention relates to a supply device for supplying drinking water to breeding cages for breeding small experimental animals such as mice and rats in research facilities. This invention relates to a device that prevents spilled water from entering a cage.

[Conventional technology]

A small experimental animal breeding device is constructed by storing a plurality of breeding cages arranged in a horizontal direction inside each of a plurality of horizontally elongated breeding spaces formed in a breeding rack having a frame structure. Each rearing cage is shaped like a cage or is formed by a plastic box with an open top. The water sent from the water supply source through the water supply piping passes through the water supply header installed inside the breeding rack.
Water is supplied to the small animals in each cage through a water supply pipe with an open water supply end inside each cage. There is an automatic on-off valve at the upstream end of the water supply pipe, and when the water supply pipe tilts slightly due to the animal pushing the tip of the water supply pipe with its mouth, the automatic on-off valve opens and water flows out through the water supply pipe into the cage. , small animals can drink it.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

In the above-mentioned conventional breeding cage water supply device,
Small animals that spend their entire lives in small cages may play with the tips of water pipes, causing water to continually flow out of them. If such a continuous outflow of water occurs, assuming that the tip of the water supply pipe protrudes into the cage, water will continuously flow into the cage.
The chips and sawdust on the bottom of the cage get wet, and if the cage is made of a plastic box, water collects inside the cage, causing small animals to drown or die from losing their body heat to the water.

In order to prevent this from happening, conventional methods have been to position the tip of the water supply pipe outside the cage and provide a small opening in the side wall of the cage, through which the small animal sticks out half of its head and touches the tip of the water supply pipe. It is common to drink water. However, there is a problem in that it is difficult to drink water with an opening that only slightly exposes the face, making it difficult to drink enough water. However, it is not preferable to provide an opening large enough to expose the entire face, as there is a risk that small animals may escape through the opening.

On the other hand, if the water supply pipe is located outside the cage,
The installation position of the water supply pipe relative to the cage has a subtle effect on the water intake of small animals, so sufficient care must be taken when installing the water supply pipe, and there is also the risk that small animals may move towards the outside water supply pipe and pick up chips and sawdust inside the cage. As it spills out through the opening of the cage, it gets stuck around the ends of the water pipes, causing continuous water leakage, as well as chips and sawdust that are thrown out. are scattered outside and become unclean, resulting in an unhygienic breeding environment.

In order to solve the problems caused by locating the water supply end of the water supply pipe outside the cage as described above, the present invention adopts the installation of the water supply end of the water supply pipe inside the cage, which was previously considered inappropriate. Moreover, the present invention provides a new small animal rearing cage water supply device that solves the problem of water leakage into the cage.

[Means to resolve the problem]

In the present invention, an opening is formed in the side wall of a small animal breeding cage, a water receiving member is installed by penetrating this opening in the inside and outside direction of the cage, and the upper surface of this water receiving member is provided on both sides in a chevron shape with the twill line as the border. At the same time, a water receiving member is installed so that a pair of slopes descending from the inside of the cage are formed, and the water receiving member is installed so that the twill wire descends from the inside of the cage to the outside of the cage. A small animal breeding cage water supply device is constructed by installing a water supply pipe so that the tip of the water supply is located upward.

[Effect]

With the above configuration, after the small animal connects to the tip of the water supply pipe and drinks water, the remaining water falls onto the water receiving member, flows out of the cage through the slopes on both sides of the twill line, and flows out of the cage. It doesn't flow inside. Furthermore, chips and sawdust thrown out by small animals onto the water receiving member fall out of the cage due to the slope of the water receiving member without being deposited on the water receiving member.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a box-shaped small animal breeding cage that is open upward and is made of, for example, transparent plastic. Note that the cage 1 may be formed of a cage body.

An opening 2 is formed in the side wall of the cage 1, and a water receiving member 3 is provided passing through the opening 2 in the direction from inside to outside of the cage. This water receiving member 3 is fixed to the cage 1 in this embodiment.

A swingable water supply pipe 4 is installed from the outside of the cage into the cage through the opening 2, and the base end of this water supply pipe 4 is connected to a known automatic on-off valve V. A water supply source (such as a water faucet) 8 is connected to the upstream side of the automatic on-off valve V via a pressure reducing valve 5 . Further, a pipe body 6 is provided around the base end of the water supply pipe 4 to limit the amount of swing of the water supply pipe 4, and constitutes a part of the fixed portion of the base end of the water supply pipe 4. The water supply mechanism described above is known, for example, as disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,346,672.
It is stated in the specification of the No.

When a small animal in the cage 1 touches the tip of the water supply pipe 4 with its snout, the water supply pipe 4 swings relative to the pipe body 6.
As the proximal end of the water supply pipe 4 is displaced relative to the section, the automatic on-off valve V opens in a known manner in connection therewith.
Water is supplied through the water supply pipe 4 toward its tip. A small animal drinks part of the water flowing out from the tip of the water supply pipe 4, and the remaining water drips onto the water receiving member 3.
It is guided to the outside of the cage via its top surface. It is discharged through the drainage gutter 7.

The water receiving member 3 is as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, and is entirely composed of a chevron-shaped plate.
The water receiving member 3 has a pair of slopes 10, 10 located on both sides of a ridgeline 9, and the ridgeline 9 gradually descends from the inside of the cage 1 to the outside.

In the illustrated example, the water receiving member 3 has a pentagonal shape in plan as shown in FIG. Further, the outer end of the water receiving member 3 projects outward by a distance d from the outer wall of the cage 1. The distance b is, for example, about 7 to 10 mm, and the distance d is, for example, about 10 mm. The apex angle α of the slope (Fig. 4) is, for example, 30° or
The angle is preferably about 60°, preferably about 45°.

Grooves 11 can be formed in the slopes 10, 10 of the water receiving member 3 so as to gradually move away from the ridgeline 9 toward the outside of the cage. Further, a diagonally upward water receiving flange 12 can be provided at the lower end edge of the slopes 10, 10.

The tip of the water supply pipe 4 is located above the inner part of the cage 1 of the ridgeline 9 of the water receiving member 3, and the distance a (Fig. 3) between the tip and the inner end 9a of the water receiving member 3 is, for example, about 3 mm. ing. Note that a pin 13 with an enlarged tip 13a is inserted into the water supply pipe 4 from the tip side to the base end side in order to prevent the water passing therethrough from suddenly gushing out. The axis of the water supply pipe 4 and the water receiving member 3
The vertical distance C (FIG. 4) of the tip 9a is preferably about 6 to 8 mm, for example.

In the above configuration, when water is released from the tip of the water supply pipe 4 due to contact with a small animal, the remaining water drips onto the inner upper part of the water receiving member 3 as shown in FIG. The water flows down along the slopes 10, 10 and falls into the drainage gutter 7. At this time, the groove 11 functions to guide water toward the outer end of the water receiving member 3. Further, the flange 12 serves to guide water that has flowed down to the lower edge of the slope 10 outward.

On the other hand, even if a small animal accidentally throws chips or sawdust inside the cage 1 onto the water receiving member 3, if the angle of the slope of the water receiving member 3 is made steep, it will immediately slide outward. No accumulation occurs. On the other hand, if the water receiving member 3 is formed to have a valley-shaped cross section, accumulation will occur on the water receiving member.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the water receiving member 3 is the same as in the previous embodiment, but the water suction pipe 4 is provided in the vertical direction, and its tip is located at approximately the same position as the water supply pipe tip in the previous embodiment. It is set in. It is clear that this embodiment also provides the same effects as the previous embodiment.

Although the water receiving member 3 is supported and fixed to the opening 2 of the cage 1 in the previous embodiment, the water receiving member 3 may be fixed to another member. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a U-shaped cross-section water conductor 15 whose upper ends are welded to both side surfaces of the pipe body 6 is provided, and a portion indicated by 16 is provided below the tip of the water conductor 15 to receive water. The member 3 is fixed by welding or the like. In this example,
Even if water were to leak from the opening at the tip of the tube body 6, it would be discharged to the outside by the water guide body 15. [Effects of the invention] As described above, according to the invention, the water that drips from the tip of the water suction pipe does not flow into the cage, but is all discharged outside the cage by the water receiving member, so that the water supply pipe The tip can be positioned within the cage to ensure sufficient water intake for the animal and no water will accumulate in the cage even if there is a continuous outflow of water from the water supply pipe. Moreover, since the water receiving member has a chevron-shaped upper surface and the twill lines descend toward the outside of the cage, the slope can prevent the formation of deposits on the upper surface of the water receiving member.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an embodiment of the small animal breeding cage water supply device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the main parts of the device, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line - The figure is a cross-sectional view taken along the line -- of FIG. 2, FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part of FIG. 5, and FIG. - line sectional view. 1...Cage, 2...Opening, 3...Water receiving member,
4...Water pipe,...Automatic on-off valve, 9...Twill wire,
10...Slope, 11...Groove, 12...Flange,
15... Water conductor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] 1. An opening is formed in the side wall of a small animal breeding cage, a water receiving member is installed by penetrating this opening in the inside and outside directions of the cage, and the upper surface of this water receiving member is provided with a twill line as a boundary. A pair of slopes descending on both sides in a chevron shape are formed, and a water receiving member is installed so that the twill wire descends from inside the cage to outside the cage, and the twill wire of the water receiving member is connected to the cage. A water supply device for a small animal breeding cage in which a water supply pipe is installed so that the water supply tip is located above the inner part. 2. The breeding cage water supply device according to claim 1, wherein the water supply pipe is installed so as to protrude from the outside of the cage to the inside of the cage through the opening of the cage. 3. The breeding cage water supply device according to claim 1, which is a registered utility model, in which the water supply pipe is provided with the water supply end facing down and protrudes from above to below into the cage. 4 Utility model registration claim No. 1 in which a groove extending from the inside of the cage to the outside of the cage is formed on the slope of the water receiving member
The breeding cage water supply device according to any one of items 1 to 3. 5 Utility model registration claim No. 1 in which an upward water receiving flange is formed on the lower edge of the slope of the water receiving member.
The breeding cage water supply device according to any one of items 1 to 3. 6. A breeding cage water supply device according to claims 1 to 3 of the registered utility model claims, in which a water receiving member is fixed to the cage. 7. The breeding cage water supply device according to claims 1 to 3, which is a registered utility model, in which the water receiving member is supported on a fixed part that supports the base end of the water supply pipe.