JPH0446546Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a powdered feed feeder used when performing toxicity experiments on animals such as pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals, and food additives.

(Conventional techniques and their problems) When conducting toxicity tests using mice, rats, etc. for pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals, food additives, etc., especially long-term toxicity tests, the mixed feeding method is used in which feed is mixed with the specimen. It is often administered by

This method calculates the amount of sample ingested using the following formula.

Daily intake (g) x feed analyte concentration (ppm) / body weight Therefore, if feed intake is not measured correctly,
Accurate sample intake cannot be calculated.

In recent years, as animal testing of drugs has become more intensive, it has become necessary to accurately determine the individual feed intake of a large number of experimental animals in a short period of time.

Conventional powder feed feeders are simply open at the top, so mice and rats often get into the feeder and excrete urine inside, which requires a lot of effort to remove. It requires effort. Especially when urine is excreted, it is impossible to completely separate urine and feed, and accurate feed intake cannot be determined.

Furthermore, there is a risk that workers may inhale feed containing the specimen when removing contaminated excrement and urine, which poses many problems from a health and safety perspective.

Currently, powdered feed feeders such as Utility Model No. 54-106678 have been developed and are in use, but this device uses a coarse mesh net that descends as the amount of feed decreases, allowing only specific areas to be fed. However, since the experimental animals climb on the net to ingest the feed, it is unavoidable that the excrement and urine released during that time may contaminate the feed.

(Means for solving the problem) The present invention was devised in view of these shortcomings, and its purpose is to prevent feed from being fed only to specific parts of the body. The purpose is to provide a feeder that does not allow animal excrement to mix with the feed in the feeder and allows accurate measurement of feed intake, and also to provide a feeder that is easy to operate. be.

The gist of this is that, in a powdered feed feeder that opens upward, there is a wire mesh that is almost inscribed within the feeder, a substrate that is movably attached along the inner wall of the feeder, and a line arranged on this substrate. This powdered feed feeder is characterized by being equipped with a removable intrusion prevention plate consisting of a partition plate that can be peeled back from the opening and partitioned with a space such that only the head of the experimental animal can be inserted.

The main body of the powdered feed feeder in which the present invention is implemented is:
This is a well-known structure in which the rear wall is usually raised higher than the front wall, and the side walls are sloped according to the height difference. It is best to provide a front edge so that when a laboratory animal puts its head in from the front, it can hang its front legs and ingest the food inside, but any type of container with at least an opening at the top It can be anything.

The wire mesh is installed inside the feeding device, and is movable up and down inside the feeding device. This wire mesh is preferably made of stainless steel, and the mesh of the mesh is of an appropriate size to allow feed to be taken in from below.

The intrusion prevention plate is placed on the wire mesh, detachably installed inside the feeding device, and consists of a base plate and a partition plate.

When the feeder is rectangular, the substrate has a width equal to the inner width of the rear wall, and can be moved up and down along the inner surface of the rear wall. On the front surface of this board, a plurality of partition plates are arranged in parallel in principle toward the front wall. The length of the partition plate is equal to the width between the rear wall and the front edge if the feeder is provided with a front edge, and is approximately equal to the width between the rear wall and the front wall when there is no front edge. However, the partition plate only needs to be close to the front wall or edge when the substrate is installed in the feeder, and does not need to contact them.
The distance between the partition plates is approximately equal to the head of the experimental animal being kept. The depth may be arbitrary, but it may be shorter than the height of the animal. The substrate having such a structure is removably placed on the wire mesh integrally with the partition plate.

(Function) When using the feeder according to the present invention, put powdered feed into the feeder as appropriate, place a wire mesh on top of it, and place the substrate of the intrusion prevention plate on top of the wire mesh to feed the feeder. Lower it along the inner surface of the rear wall of the vessel. The animal set in this way is locked so that it can be fed inside or outside the breeding box.

When a laboratory animal ingests the food inside, a partition plate extends from the substrate from the opening to the place where the food is located, leaving an equal distance to the experimental animal's head, so the animal's head can be placed within that space to receive the food. Experimental animals that have ingested the feeder cannot play in the feeder and simply retreat.
In addition, only the head or shoulders of the experimental animal are inserted into the feeder, and the buttocks of the experimental animal are located outside the feeder, so even if excrement is produced during that time, it is discharged outside the feeder. If the amount of feed intake increases, the wire mesh above the feed will move downward under its own weight, and the entire intrusion prevention plate will also move down with it, and the spacing between the partition plates will not change.

(Example) Hereinafter, an explanation will be given according to the drawings shown as an example.

1 is the feeder main body, 2 is its front wall, and 3 is its rear wall. The side walls 4 on both sides fall down from the rear wall 3 to the front wall 2, and 5 is a front edge that allows the experimental animal to easily put their feet on and ingest the food inside. 6 is an opening of the feeder 1.

7 is a mesh coarse wire mesh placed over the feed.

8 is an intrusion prevention plate, and the intrusion prevention plate 8 is
A substrate 9 that is approximately equal to the inner width of the rear wall 3 of the feeder 1 and can be inserted and removed along the rear wall 3, and partitions that are arranged in a row on the substrate 9 and partition the openings 6 at intervals equal to the head of the experimental animal. It consists of a plate 10. In this embodiment, two partition plates 10 are arranged in a row.

(Effects) As described above, in the present invention, since the feed is covered with a coarse wire mesh, almost all of the feed can be ingested, and not only does the ingested portion not be unevenly distributed, but also The space between the separated partition plates is regulated to the width of the experimental animal's head, so the experimental animal can play with its entire body on top of the wire mesh.
Since feces and urine are not dropped into the feed, and the experimental animals simply position their butts outside the feeder to urinate, the contamination of the feed with feces and urine is prevented as much as possible. This allows for accurate measurement of ingested feed.

Furthermore, since the board can be easily taken out together with the partition plate, and the wire mesh can also be removed, it is easy to operate during maintenance and cleaning work.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the powdered feed feeder according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the powder feed feeder in use. 1... Feeder main body, 3... Rear wall, 5... Front edge,
6...Opening, 7...Wire mesh, 8...Intrusion prevention plate, 9
... Board, 10 ... Partition plate.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a powdered feed feeder with an upward opening, a wire mesh substantially inscribed within the feeder, a substrate movably attached along the inner wall of the feeder, and arranged in rows on this substrate and directed toward the back from the opening. 1. A powder feed feeder characterized in that a removable intrusion prevention plate is installed therein, comprising a partition plate separated at intervals such that the head of a laboratory animal can be inserted thereinto.