JPH0618499B2 - Live fish transport container - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention is intended to transport various types of fish and shellfish while making the most of them.
The present invention relates to a container for transporting live fish, which is mounted on a vehicle, a ship, a train, or the like.

[Conventional technology]

The present inventor, without using a private car, the live fish in a pseudo-hibernation state, that is, by suppressing the metabolism of the fish by placing it at a low temperature, and putting it in a sleep state, a large amount of live fish can be stored in a relatively small aquarium. It proposes a container for transporting live fish, which can contain fish in a high density and can ensure a very high survival rate even when transported for a long time (Japanese Patent Application No. 62-171823). That is, live fish is placed in a case having a shape adapted to the shape of one or two fish, the cases are placed in a plurality of case storage containers, the plurality of case storage containers are stacked and immersed in a water tank of a temperature-controllable container. By keeping the temperature of the aquarium low, the live fish are in a state of being hibernated.

The container is equipped with a water temperature adjusting mechanism, a water purifying mechanism, an air supplying mechanism, and the like, and an overflow outlet is installed above the water tank to circulate the water in the water tank.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In the case of the above conventional container, when the case storage container is taken out for delivery in the process of transportation, the water level in the water tank lowers and does not overflow from the overflow outlet,
It becomes impossible to circulate water for filtration and water temperature adjustment. Further, in the conventional container, since there is no auxiliary means for pushing the plurality of case storage containers stacked in the water tank inward, the positioning and the like cannot be performed easily and reliably.

The present invention has been made to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

The present invention relates to a container provided with a water tank in which a plurality of case storage containers each containing a live fish individually are stacked and immersed, and a container provided with a mechanism for circulating and filtering the water in the water tank and adjusting the temperature, An overflow valve is provided at the upper part of the above, and one or more overflow valves that can be opened and closed are installed below the overflow valve, and a thin stick-shaped air stone is provided between the immersed case storage containers. A container for transporting live fish that can supply air in a curtain shape,
The above problems have been solved.

[Action]

If some case containers are taken out of the tank during transportation, the water level will drop and the water surface will be below the upper overflow port. Therefore, by opening the overflow valve below the overflow outlet, overflow can be made at a lower position, and the water circulation is not interrupted. Moreover, since the air comes out in the form of a curtain from the thin rod-shaped air stones without directly hitting the fish, the rise during transportation can be suppressed extremely low.

Further, the water temperature in the aquarium is constantly maintained at a predetermined low temperature that can restrain the movement of live fish, and thus it becomes possible to store and transport live fish at a high density.

〔Example〕

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a water tank covered with a heat insulating material. In the illustrated example, two water tanks are arranged side by side, but one water tank may be provided, or two or more water tanks may be provided. Each water tank 1 is provided with a pair of watertight lids 2 each having a heat insulating material. Usually, the lid 2 is provided with a viewing window 2a for daylighting and internal inspection. Between the two water tanks 1 and 1, an upper stage is a filtration tank 4 and a lower stage is a water temperature adjusting tank 5, and a treatment tank 3 in which a flow chamber 6 is provided on the filtration tank 4 is provided. An overflow outlet 7 communicating with the flow chamber 6 is installed above the side wall of the processing chamber 3 of each water tank 1. The overflow outlet 7 is a simple pipe that connects the inside of the water tank 1 with the flow chamber 6. Furthermore, below the overflow outlet 7,
For example, on the lower side of the height of the case storage container 33 described later,
The overflow valve 8 is installed toward the inside of the flow chamber 6. The filter tank 4 is filled with a filter material, and the water in the water tank 1 overflowing from the overflow outlet 7 or the flow valve 8 is
It flows from the flow chamber 6 into the filtration tank 4, is naturally flowed through the filtration chamber 4, is filtered, and then flows down into the water temperature adjusting tank 5. A heating heater 9 extends from the heating / cooling unit 10 and meanders in the water temperature adjusting tank 5 (see FIG. 3).
Further, an evaporator 11 for cooling the water temperature, which also extends from the heating / cooling unit 10, is further provided in the water temperature adjusting tank 5. 10a is a generator that drives the heating / cooling unit 10. A battery or other power source may be used instead of the generator 10a. Reference numeral 12 denotes an air pump, which is connected to the heating / cooling unit 10 and continuously sends air from a thin rod-shaped air stone 13 arranged between the case storage containers 33 stacked at the bottom of the water tank 1. Generally used air stones are block-shaped (short rectangular rod-shaped), but long thin rod-shaped ones are used in the present invention. In the block-shaped air stone, since the air appears in a wide area in a circular shape around the air stone, when it is used, the air directly hits the fish body, damages the fish body, and reduces the survival rate of the fish. When live fish can freely move around in an aquarium without being individually housed in a case as in the present invention, the fish can freely move to a well-conditioned place, that is, a place where bubbles are not directly hit. . However, in the case of the present invention, the air cannot move, so when the air hits the head (mouth, gills), the gills open and die due to excess oxygen. In addition, when it hits the abdomen or tail, scales are peeled off and scratches occur, and bacteria invade from there and the fish body rots while alive, and the water in the aquarium is also polluted. However, in the case of the thin rod-shaped air stone 13 according to the present invention, the air comes out in a curtain shape, that is, in a plane shape right above, so that it does not directly hit the fish. The thin rod-shaped air stone 13 is made of a flexible soft metal having a sponge fixed thereon, and can be bent in a bay shape according to the installation location. Reference numeral 14 is a water pump, to which a water absorption pipe 15 extending from the water temperature adjusting tank 5 is connected, and a water discharge pipe 16 coming out of the water pump 14 is branched, one of which is arranged above the water tank 1 and the other of which is an inner lower portion of the water tank 1. Is piped to.
The water pump 14 is also connected to the heating / cooling unit 9 and its operation is controlled. The water pump 14 pumps up the water in the temperature-controlled water temperature adjusting tank 5 and discharges it from the water discharge pipe 16 into the water tank 1. Reference numeral 17 denotes a water temperature sensor provided in the water tank 1, and based on the measured temperature, the heating and cooling control operation is sequentially performed in the heating / cooling unit 9 so as to maintain the water temperature in the water temperature adjusting tank 5 at a predetermined temperature. Switches. Reference numeral 18 is a drain cock for draining water from the water tank 1.

In the container according to the present invention, one or a few live fish are placed in a transparent protective case 30 made of acrylic, polypropylene or the like as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6. The case 30 has a shape suitable for a fish shape, preferably a plane long triangle (in the case of one fish, FIG. 4), or a diagonally dividing plate.
Rectangular shape with 31 inserted (when accommodating 2 animals, Fig. 6)
Etc. The case 30 is provided with a large number of through holes 32 for ensuring water flow at least on its side surface. However, it is preferable not to provide it on the side surface where the fish body touches (see FIG. 5). The case 30 is immersed in the water tank 1 in a state where a plurality of cases 30 are stored in a box-shaped case storage container 33.

Returning to FIG. 1, 34 is a cross-shaped support pole that is provided upright in the center of each water tank 1, and 35 is a partitioning protrusion that is projected on the inner wall of the water tank 1. It is for positioning. That is, in the case of the illustrated example, the case storage containers 33 are stacked in three stages on the front side of the water tank 1 and then pushed inward, but at that time, if they are pushed in until they hit the support pole 34 and the partition projection 35, It can be easily positioned. If this operation is performed on both sides (upper and lower sides in FIG. 1) of the water tank 1, a large number of case storage containers 33 can be stored in the water tank 1 simply and quickly. The support pole 34 and the partition projection 35 may be removable.

In the case of the shipping container with the above configuration, no special car is required,
A general transportation vehicle can be used. Mixed loading with other luggage is also possible. The live fish that have arrived at the retail store or the like is transferred to the live fish storage such as the above-mentioned transport container or the live fish cage together with the case storage container 33.

As described above, one of the features of the present invention is that the fine rod-shaped air stones 13 are used and the finely divided air is supplied to the case storage container 33.
Curtains are raised in between to prevent air from hitting the fish directly. The following experiment was conducted in order to verify the effect of the thin rod-shaped air stone 13. That is, live fish is placed in a case 30 for one fish, and 36 pieces (three stacks) are stored in one aquarium, and a total of 72 case storage containers 33 are stored. A), in the case of the thin rod-shaped air stone 13 according to the present invention, it is provided at 10 locations (7th
(Fig. B) It was installed and transported from Oita to Tokyo, and the rising rate (mortality rate) was confirmed.

(Conventional Air Stone No. 1) Oita departure October 2nd 2:00 pm-Tokyo arrival October 3rd 8:00 am (transportation time 20 hours) (Conventional Air Stone 2nd) Oita departure October 11th, 11:00 am-Tokyo arrival October 11th, 8am (transportation time 21 hours) (1st thin air stone) Oita Departing October 18th, 1 pm-Tokyo Arrival October 19th, 9am (transportation time 20 hours) (2nd thin air stone) Oita departure October 26th 12:00 pm-Tokyo arrival October 27th 8:00 am (transportation time 20 hours) (Thin-shaped air stones No.3) Oita departure November 4th 1:00 pm-Tokyo arrival November 5th 8:00 am (transportation time 19 hours) From the above experimental results, the thin rod-shaped air stone in the present invention
It can be seen that when 13 is used, the rate of increase is much lower and it is effective. It is considered that this is because a large amount of air is blown out in a curtain shape between the case storage containers 33 without directly hitting the fish to supply sufficient oxygen and promote water circulation.

Although the container according to the present invention was developed for transportation, it goes without saying that it can also be used as a substitute for cages and the like.

〔The invention's effect〕

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is as described above, and even when the amount of fish stored is reduced during the transportation process, the water level can be kept constant to ensure the circulation of water, and the rising rate during transportation can be suppressed to an extremely low level. There is an effect that can be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially omitted plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially omitted front view thereof, FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of its piping, and FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of the shape of a case. FIG. 5 is a front view thereof, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing another example of the shape of the case, and FIGS. 7A and 7B are plan views showing the arrangement of air stones at the time of the rising rate experiment. Explanation of reference numerals 1 ... Water tank, 3 ... Treatment tank 4 ... Filtration tank, 5 ... Water temperature adjusting tank 6 ... Flow chamber, 7 ... Overflow outlet 8 ... Overflow valve 13 ... Thin rod-shaped air stone, 30 …… Case 33 …… Case storage container, 34 …… Support pole 35 …… Partition protrusion

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A container provided with a water tank for stacking and immersing case housing containers in which a plurality of cases in which live fish are individually stored are stacked, and a mechanism for circulating and filtering the water in the water tank and adjusting the temperature. An overflow outlet is provided in the upper part of the water tank, and one or more overflow valves that can be opened and closed are installed below the overflow outlet, and a thin rod-shaped air stone is provided between the immersed case storage containers. A container for transporting live fish that can supply air in the form of a curtain. 2. The container for transporting live fish according to claim 1, further comprising a support pole and a partitioning protrusion for positioning the case storage container in the water tank.