JPH1118605A - Apparatus for loading animal breeding cage - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for loading an animal breeding cage capable of dealing with a change in a rearing animal and not requiring a wide position for housing. SOLUTION: Plural animal breeding cages 3 are placed on each of plate trays 2a of a rack 2. A piping for air exhaust is connected to each of the cages 3 and the cages are used. The piping consists of a frame structural body composed of branched pipes 5 for exhausting air and a collecting pipe 4 for exhausting air. The branched pipes 5 are detachably connected to each of the air exhaust hole of each gage 3. The collecting pipe 4 gathers the branched pipe 5. The frame structural body (piping) is constituted so as to be engaged with and disengaged from the rack 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cage mounting device for installing a plurality of animal breeding cages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The most common method for breeding laboratory animals and the like is to house one or more animals in a non-hermetic animal breeding cage that is communicated with the outside air and place the cage on a rack. It has been done. The rack has a plurality of shelves,
A plurality of the above cages can be placed. When raising laboratory animals, the entire animal breeding room where such a rack is installed is slightly positively pressured to prevent pests and fungi from entering from outside, and the air in the cage is raised inside the breeding room. The air is sucked together with all the air, and the sucked air is passed through an air filter or the like to remove unclean substances, and the purified air is discharged outside the breeding room.

[0003] However, in the method of ventilating the whole animal breeding room as described above, the atmosphere in each cage cannot be individually controlled, and floating bacteria and viruses and further odorous substances emitted from the animals in a certain cage cannot be controlled. There is a problem that animals in other cages are contaminated by such unclean substances, and the researchers themselves are contaminated by these unclean substances,
There is a problem that it is necessary to endure the bad smell in the rearing room. In addition, in the above method, there is a problem that the environment cannot be changed or set to desired conditions according to the type of the animal stored in each cage or the type of the experiment. A device has been proposed which is airtight and has an air exhaust pipe for each cage.

For example, in the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-94930, an airtight chamber is provided on the rear side of a rack, and the airtight chamber and each cage are brought into close contact with each other via a rear plate. The contaminated air is sucked into the hermetic chamber, and then the contaminated air is exhausted from a duct extending from the hermetic chamber to the outside through a total exhaust duct provided on the ceiling of the animal breeding room. The supply of air into the cage is performed through holes provided on the top and front surfaces of the cage.

There has also been proposed an apparatus in which exhaust pipes are connected to respective cages, the exhaust pipes are assembled for each rack, and the collected contaminated air is exhausted after being cleaned by a HEPA filter. In this case, since the discharge of air is independent for each rack, the rack can be installed at any position regardless of the position of the total exhaust duct as described above.
In addition, there has been proposed a system in which the above-described apparatus is used or improved in place of the above-described exhaust method to provide an air supply system.

[0006]

Since the size of the cage varies depending on the type of the breeding animal and the number of stored animals (the number of animals constituting each group in the experiment), the simplest method is to replace the cage according to the type of the animal. However, if the size of the cage changes, the amount of circulating air changes accordingly, so that a problem arises in that proper air circulation cannot be performed when the same piping is used. Also, in this case, it is necessary to set the shelves and piping in accordance with the large cage size, so that when using small cages, there is a problem that the number of cages to be arranged is small and only a small number of animals can be bred. .

Therefore, in accordance with the size of each cage, a dedicated device integrally having both a dedicated rack and a dedicated air supply / exhaust pipe, such as a cage mounted device for a mouse and a cage mounted device for a rat, are separately provided. The animal breeding cage mounting device is used.

[0008] In this case, however, not only must a plurality of cage-mounted devices be prepared, but if an experiment is performed using a device suitable for the animal, the experiment will take place during that time (a considerable period of time may be required). This is wasteful in that the unused animal breeding cage mounting device must be stored and stored in another large place.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and is capable of easily coping with the change of the breeding animal, arranging a large number of cages, and keeping a large space for storage and storage. It is an object to provide a cage mounting device.

[0010]

An animal breeding cage mounting apparatus according to the present invention has a plurality of animal breeding cages mounted on each shelf of a rack, and each of the animal breeding cages is used for air discharge and / or supply. A pipe for air discharge and / or supply, which is detachably connected to each of the air discharge port and / or supply port of each of the cages. A frame structure including an air discharging and / or supply collecting tube for collecting the branch pipes, and the frame structure is configured to be freely engageable with and disengageable from the rack. And

As described above, in the present invention, since the pipe (frame structure) is engageable and disengageable, the pipe can be appropriately replaced with a pipe having an air capacity suitable for a required amount of circulating air.
This allows one rack to accommodate various types of animals. That is, when the kind of animal changes, the piping and the cage are replaced, and the same rack is used. Since the pipes and cages removed from the rack are light and thin, a large space is not required for storage and storage.

At this time, it is preferable that the branch pipe is a flexible tube, so that even if the positional relationship between the cage and the pipe is slightly shifted, the cage and the branch pipe can be easily attached.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the rack is of a variable shelf type. When placing large cages on rack shelves, as well as placing small cages, change the shelves according to the size of the cage so that the upper and lower gaps are reduced. Therefore, the necessary cage can be mounted on the rack without waste.

Further, in the present invention, the collecting pipes in the framework structure may be provided in a horizontal direction along a shelf of the rack, and may be connected to the horizontal collecting pipes in a vertical direction. More preferably, it is formed of a vertical collecting pipe.
Further, in the present invention, it is more preferable that the horizontal collecting pipe is assembled so as to correspond to the shelf configuration of the rack.

[0015] In addition, in the present invention, it is more preferable that the vertical collecting pipe and / or the horizontal collecting pipe be extensible. When the pipe is mounted on the rack, the collecting pipe can be stretched and used, and when not mounted, the collecting pipe can be contracted and stored compactly.

[0016]

Embodiments and Examples of the Invention

<Embodiment 1> Figs. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of an animal breeding cage mounting apparatus according to the present invention. Fig. 1 shows a case where a mouse cage is mounted, and Fig. 2 shows a rat cage. It shows the case where it is installed. Each of FIGS. 1 and 2
(a) is a front view, and each (b) is a side view.

In the case of the mouse shown in FIG.
Are provided with five shelves 2a, and seven mouse cages 3 are placed on each of the shelves 2a. The shelf 2a is variably attached to the frame 2d of the rack 2 by a plug-in method or a screwing method, so that the number of steps can be appropriately changed. In the figure, the placement of the cage 3 is shown only on the uppermost shelf 2a, and the cages 3 arranged on the other shelf 2a are omitted.

The piping is composed of an air discharge collecting pipe 4 and an air discharge branch pipe 5, and has an air capacity suitable for the mouse cage 3. The collecting pipe 4 includes a horizontal collecting pipe 4b positioned in the horizontal direction corresponding to each shelf 2a, and a vertical collecting pipe 4a positioned in the vertical direction, and a plurality of the horizontal collecting pipes 4b are connected to the vertical collecting pipe 4a. To form a framework structure. Note that the frame structure may be configured by combining an appropriate angle material or the like in addition to the collecting pipe 4. This pipe is attached to a pipe mounting base 2b on the rear side of the rack 2 by a hook (not shown) so as to be freely engaged and disengaged, and the downstream end of the vertical collecting pipe 4a is detachably connected to the blower 6. The plurality of branch pipes 5 connected to the horizontal collecting pipe 4b are detachably connected to the cage 3 (for example, connected by a one-touch joint). An air amount adjusting valve 11 is provided at a connection portion between the vertical collecting pipe 4a and the blower 6, so that the amount of air sucked from the pipe can be adjusted. The blower 6 is provided with a differential pressure gauge 12. A caster 7 is attached to the foot of the rack 2 so as to be movable.

In the case of the rat shown in FIG. 2, there are four shelf stages 2a of the rack, and five rat cages 8 are placed on each of these shelf stages 2a. It should be noted that FIG.
In the figure, the cage 8 is shown only in the uppermost row, and the cage 8 placed on the other shelf row 2a is omitted.

The pipe is composed of a collecting pipe 9 for air discharge and a branch pipe 10 for air discharge, and has an air capacity (thicker than the pipe for mouse) suitable for the cage 8 for rats. Similarly to the above, the collecting pipe 9 includes a horizontal collecting pipe 9b located in the horizontal direction corresponding to each shelf 2a and a vertical collecting pipe 9a arranged in the vertical direction. The horizontal collecting pipes 9b are connected to each other to form a framework structure.
A plurality of the branch pipes 10 are connected to the horizontal collecting pipe 9b. The piping is attached to a mounting base 2b of the rack 2 by a hook (not shown) so as to be freely engaged and disengaged.
The branch pipe 10 is detachably connected to each cage 8 (for example, connected by a one-touch joint), and the downstream end of the vertical collecting pipe 9a is detachably connected to the blower 6. The same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be avoided.

When the animal breeding cage mounting device shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is operated to suck and exhaust the air in the cages 3 and 8, the air in the cages 3 and 8 is first sucked from the branch pipes 5 and 10. Horizontal collecting pipes 4b, 9b, vertical collecting pipes 4a, 9
a to the blower 6 and the HEP of the blower 6
A filter removes unclean substances such as bacteria and odorous substances and discharges them. By setting the cross-sectional area of the horizontal collecting pipes 4b and 9b to be at least 5 times the cross-sectional area of the branch pipes 5 and 10,
It is possible to eliminate the suction wind speed unevenness of each branch pipe (“Easy Local Exhaust Design Classroom” by Yushi Numano Central Occupational Accident Prevention Association)
Pages 172 to 173). The supply of air into the cages 3 and 8 is performed through holes provided on the top and front surfaces of the cages 3 and 8 as described above.

Next, the manner of use of the animal breeding cage mounting apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described. For example, when rearing mice, the shelf 2a is attached to the frame 2d so as to have the arrangement shown in FIG. 1, the mouse cage 3 is placed on the shelf 2a, and the mouse pipe (collecting pipe 4) is placed. The branch pipes 5) are attached to the rack 2 so as to be hooked on the hooks, and the branch pipes 5 are connected to the cages 3 respectively. The downstream end of the collecting pipe 4 is connected to the blower 6. Then, the mice are reared using the cage-mounted device installed in this manner.

Next, when changing to rearing of rats, the above-mentioned mouse pipes (collecting pipe 4 and branch pipe 5) are removed from the cage 3, the blower 6, and the rack 2, and the arrangement shown in FIG. The shelf 2a is replaced with the frame 2d, and the rat cage 8 is placed. Rat pipes (collecting pipe 9 and branch pipe 10) are attached to the rack 2 so as to be hooked on the hooks, the branch pipes 10 are connected to the cage 8, respectively, and the downstream end of the collecting pipe 9 is connected to the blower 6. . Then, rats are bred using this cage-mounted device.

As described above, in the present invention, the rack 2 and the piping ([collecting pipe 4 and branch pipe 5] and [collecting pipe 9 and branch pipe 1]
0]) can be freely engaged and disengaged, so that it can be appropriately replaced with a pipe having a required air capacity.
Can respond to various animals. And only the pipes and cages 3 and 8 are stored when not in use.
Since the entire device is not stored, a large storage space is not required. For example, when storing the pipes, the pipes may be set up against a small gap near the wall of the animal room. The removed pipe is as if it were the same size as a rack when viewed from the front, but is thin when viewed from the side, so such a compact storage is possible. Further, when the expandable and contractible collecting pipes 4 and 9 are used, the collecting pipes 4 and 9 can be further compacted by being contracted during storage, and can be stored in a smaller place.

If the branch pipes 5 and 10 are flexible tubes, the cages 3 and 8 and the branch pipes 5 and 10 can be easily attached and detached even if the placement positions of the cages 3 and 8 are slightly shifted. can do.

<Embodiment 2> FIGS. 3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the animal breeding cage mounting apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a case where a mouse cage is mounted, and FIG. This shows the case where a rat cage is mounted. Figures 3 and 4
(A) is a front view, and (b) is a side view.

In the first embodiment, the vertical collecting pipes 4a, 9a
However, in the second embodiment, two vertical collecting pipes 14a and 19a are provided on the left and right sides of the cage mounting device. The vertical collecting pipes 14b and 19b positioned corresponding to the respective shelf stages 2a are respectively attached to the left and right ends of the vertical collecting pipes 14b and 19b.
a and 19a are respectively connected. As in the first embodiment,
The collecting pipes 4 and 9 are composed of the vertical collecting pipes 14a and 19a and the horizontal collecting pipes 14b and 19b to form a frame structure. The collecting pipes 4 and 9 (frame structure) and the branch pipes 5 and 1 are provided.
A pipe is formed from zero. The horizontal collecting pipe 14
A plurality of branch pipes 5 and 10 are connected to b and 19b. The branch pipes 5 and 10 are located at positions corresponding to the cages 3 and 8, and are detachably connected to the cages 3 and 8.

In the first embodiment, the mounting base 2b is provided for mounting the pipe to the rack 2.
In this configuration, piping is directly attached to the shelf 2a of the rack 2. This pipe is attached at a plurality of places by hooks (not shown) so as to be freely engaged and disengaged.

The same components as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be avoided. 3 and 4, similarly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the placement of the cages 3 and 8 is shown only in the uppermost shelf 2a, and the cages 3 and 8 provided in the other shelf 2a are omitted. ing.

Also in the second embodiment, similarly to the above, it is possible to appropriately replace the pipe with a required air capacity.
One rack 2 can accommodate various animals. Further, only the pipes and the cages 3 and 8 are stored when not in use, and a large storage space is not required.

Further, in the case of the second embodiment, the vertical collecting pipe 14
By providing two a and 19a, the intake from each of the branch pipes 5 and 10 can be performed more evenly, and in addition, the strength of the collecting pipe as a framework structure is improved, which is more preferable.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described first and second embodiments, but can be practiced with appropriate modifications within a range that can be adapted to the spirit of the preceding and following embodiments. Within the technical scope of For example, in the first and second embodiments, the case where the air in the cages 3 and 8 is exhausted is shown. However, the air flow may be reversed for the purpose of air supply.

In the first and second embodiments, the blower 6 is provided for each single animal breeding cage mounting device. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It may be extended and connected to one blower.

1 to 4, the vertical collecting pipes 4a, 9a, 14
Although the connection to the blower 6 is made from the upper ends of the a and 19a, the connection may be made from the lower ends of the vertical collecting pipes 4a, 9a, 14a and 19a. Further, as shown in FIGS.
In the case of one having the vertical collecting pipes 14a and 19a,
The left vertical collecting pipes 14a and 19a can be connected to the blower 6. In addition, it is possible to connect to the blower not only from the upper end or lower end of the vertical collecting pipe, but also from the middle. Therefore, the degree of freedom of the installation position of the animal breeding cage mounting device and the blower is increased. Further, three or more vertical collecting pipes may be provided.

[0035]

According to the present invention, the shelves and pipes of the animal breeding cage mounting device can be appropriately replaced with the rack frame, so that one rack can accommodate various breeding animals and breed small animals. Even in such cases, many animals can be bred without wasting space. And, for the animal breeding cage mounting device that is not used, only the piping and the cage are stored and stored, so that the storage space can be small.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a first embodiment of a device for mounting an animal breeding cage according to the present invention, showing a case where a mouse cage is mounted.

FIG. 2 is a first embodiment of the animal breeding cage mounting device according to the present invention, showing a case where a rat cage is mounted.

FIG. 3 is a second embodiment of the device for mounting an animal breeding cage according to the present invention, showing a case where a mouse cage is mounted.

FIG. 4 is a second embodiment of the animal breeding cage mounting device according to the present invention, showing a case where a rat cage is mounted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 2 rack 2a shelf 2b mounting base 2d frame 3 mouse cage 4,9 collecting pipe 4a, 9a, 14a, 19a vertical collecting pipe 4b, 9b, 14b, 19b horizontal collecting pipe 5,10 technical pipe 6 blower 7 caster 8 Rat cage 11 Air flow control valve 12 Differential pressure gauge

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An animal breeding cage mounting device in which a plurality of animal breeding cages are placed on each shelf of a rack, and each of the animal breeding cages is connected to a pipe for air discharge and / or supply. Wherein the pipe is a branch pipe for air discharge and / or supply which is detachably connected to an air discharge port and / or a supply port of each cage, and an air discharge pipe for collecting the branch pipes. And / or a frame structure including a supply collecting pipe, wherein the frame structure is configured to be capable of engaging with and disengaging from the rack. 2. The rack according to claim 1, wherein said rack is of a variable shelf type.
2. The device for mounting an animal breeding cage according to item 1. 3. A horizontal collecting pipe arranged in a horizontal direction along a shelf of a rack, wherein the collecting pipe in the framework structure is;
The animal breeding cage mounting device according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a vertical collecting tube connected to the horizontal collecting tube and disposed in a vertical direction. 4. The animal breeding cage mounting device according to claim 3, wherein the horizontal collecting pipe is assembled so as to correspond to a rack shelf configuration. 5. The animal breeding cage mounting device according to claim 3, wherein the vertical collecting pipe and / or the horizontal collecting pipe are extendable and contractible.