Universal mouse metabolism cage

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of experimental cages, in particular to a universal mouse metabolism cage which comprises a cage body, a supporting mechanism used for experimental mice to inhabit is installed in the cage body, the supporting mechanism comprises a plurality of sets of installation shafts inserted in the cage body, the installation shafts are linearly distributed at equal intervals, and the installation shafts are connected with the cage body. Mounting shafts are arranged in the cage body, rollers are mounted on the mounting shafts, a gap is reserved between every two adjacent rollers and used for filtering excrement, a flow guide cover is arranged below the cage body, and a urine collecting opening is formed below the flow guide cover. When the supporting mechanism is controlled by the driving mechanism to discharge excrement, the mounting shaft is synchronously controlled to abut against the surface of the scraping plate to rotate, so that the scraping plate can scrape stains adhered to the surface of the mounting shaft, the surface of the supporting mechanism is further cleaned, and sanitation of the inhabiting environment of laboratory mice on the supporting mechanism is guaranteed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of experimental cages, in particular to a universal rodent metabolism cage. Background Art

[0002] The rodent metabolic cage is an experimental device used to study the physiology, metabolism and behavior of small mammals (such as mice and rats).

[0003] After searching, the Chinese patent document with patent number CN202120720797.8 discloses a cage for collecting metabolites of experimental mice. The above scheme prevents food residues and drinking water from mixing into metabolites by setting the food trough outside the mouse cage; the experimental mice excrete metabolites in the cage, and the dense collection net can intercept the feces of the experimental mice and enter the collection bottle. The excreted urine can fall onto the lower collection plate through the gaps in the collection net and eventually enter the urine collection bottle. The conical baffle in the center of the dense collection net can prevent urine from falling into the feces collection bottle. The device can prevent food residues and drinking water from mixing into excrement, and can completely separate feces and urine, which greatly ensures the pollution-free nature of the excrement and ensures the accuracy of subsequent tests.

[0004] Although the above technology can continue to separate and collect the feces and urine of experimental mice, during the excretion process of the experimental mice, the excrement will be excreted directly into the cage and adhere to the cage. The experimental mice are in the contaminated environment in the metabolic cage for a long time, which will affect their health. Utility Model Content

[0005] Technical problems solved

[0006] In view of the above-mentioned shortcomings of the existing technology, the present invention provides a universal rodent metabolic cage, which can solve the problem in the existing technology that the excrement of experimental mice adheres to the cage and causes the experimental mice to be in a polluted environment, causing harm to their health.

[0007] Technical Solution

[0008] In order to achieve the above objectives, the present invention is implemented through the following technical solutions:

[0009] The utility model provides a universal rodent metabolism cage, comprising a cage body, wherein a support mechanism for experimental mice to inhabit is installed inside the cage body, wherein the support mechanism comprises a mounting shaft inserted in the cage body, wherein the mounting shafts are arranged in a plurality of groups and are linearly distributed with equal distances, wherein rollers are mounted on each of the mounting shafts, and gaps are left between two adjacent groups of rollers for filtering excrement, wherein a flow guide cover is arranged below the cage body, wherein a urine collection port is arranged below the flow guide cover, wherein a side slot is provided on the side of the cage body, and wherein a driving mechanism is mounted on the cage body, wherein the driving mechanism is used to control the mounting shaft to rotate toward one side of the side slot.

[0010] Furthermore, one end of the mounting shaft extends out from the inside of the cage, the driving mechanism includes a sprocket mounted on the mounting shaft, and chains are sleeved on the surfaces of several groups of the sprockets. The driving mechanism also includes a crank mounted on one group of the mounting shafts.

[0011] Furthermore, the surface of the drum is provided with evenly distributed rubber ridges.

[0012] Furthermore, the rubber convex strips arranged on the surfaces of two adjacent groups of the rollers are distributed in a staggered manner.

[0013] Furthermore, a scraper is installed on the inner wall of the cage body. The scraper is arranged to be distributed parallel to the roller and abuts against the lower surface of the roller.

[0014] Furthermore, a filter is installed inside the cage below the scraper.

[0015] Furthermore, a guide plate is installed on the surface of the cage body outside the side slot.

[0016] Beneficial effects

[0017] Compared with the prior art, the technical solution provided by this utility model has the following beneficial effects:

[0018] The utility model uses the structural arrangement of the support mechanism to separate urine and feces from the excrement of the experimental mice when they are perched and moving on the surface of the support mechanism. At the same time, the separated urine is directly discharged from the cage through the deflector cover and the urine collection port. The structural arrangement of the driving mechanism can control the support mechanism to rotate toward one side of the side slot, further pushing feces trapped on the surface of the support mechanism toward the side of the side slot and discharging it through the side slot, thereby further achieving the separation and collection of urine and feces.

[0019] This solution uses a driving mechanism to control the support mechanism to discharge feces, and will synchronously control the roller to rotate against the surface of the scraper, so that the scraper can scrape off the stains adhered to the surface of the roller, further cleaning the surface of the support mechanism and ensuring the hygiene of the living environment of the experimental mice on the support mechanism. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be derived from these drawings without inventive effort.

[0021] Figure 1This is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0022] Figure 2 This is a schematic front cross-sectional view of the structure in an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0023] Figure 3 This is a schematic cross-sectional view of the internal structure of the cage in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the installation of the support mechanism structure in an embodiment of the present utility model.

[0025] The numbers in the figure represent: 1. Cage; 2. Support mechanism; 21. Mounting shaft; 22. Roller; 23. Rubber rib; 3. Sprocket; 4. Air guide cover; 5. Urine collection port; 6. Side slot; 7. Guide plate; 8. Scraper; 9. Filter; 10. Crank handle; 11. Chain. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are intended only to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. It should also be noted that, for ease of description, the accompanying drawings only illustrate portions relevant to the present invention, not all of its components.

[0027] The present invention will be further described below with reference to the embodiments.

[0028] Example:

[0029] Please refer to the attached Figure 1-4 This proposal proposes a universal rodent metabolic cage. The cage body 1 is provided with a support mechanism 2 inside, which is used for the habitation of experimental mice. The experimental mice move on the support mechanism 2, which makes it convenient for researchers to observe the behavior and metabolic process of the experimental mice, and facilitates data collection and analysis. A deflector 4 is installed below the cage body 1. The deflector 4 is arranged in a cone shape and has a urine collection port 5 below. When the experimental mice defecate on the surface of the support mechanism 2, the feces in the excrement will be retained on the surface of the support mechanism 2, while the urine in the excrement will pass through the support mechanism 2 and flow to the surface of the deflector 4. Under the diversion effect of the deflector 4, it will be discharged from the urine collection port 5, further realizing the separation and collection of urine and feces in the excrement of the experimental mice. A side slot 6 is provided on one side surface of the cage body 1, and a driving mechanism is installed on the surface of the cage body 1. The driving mechanism is used to drive the support mechanism 2 to rotate inside the cage body 1 and push the feces intercepted on the surface of the support mechanism 2 to the side of the side slot 6, further realizing the discharge and collection of feces inside the cage body 1.

[0030] Specifically, the support mechanism 2 includes mounting shafts 21 installed and inserted into the cage 1. The mounting shafts 21 are arranged in several groups with equal distances and linear distribution. Rollers 22 are mounted on the surface of each group of mounting shafts 21. These groups of rollers 22 form a standing platform inside the cage 1, allowing the laboratory mice to perch and move around on the surface of the support mechanism 2. A gap is left between adjacent groups of rollers 22. When the laboratory mice defecate on the rollers 22, the urine in the excrement flows out through the gap between the rollers 22, further achieving independent collection of the urine in the excrement. However, the gap between the rollers 22 is not large enough to allow feces to pass through, causing the feces to be retained above the support mechanism 2.

[0031] More specifically, one end of the mounting shaft 21 extends through the interior of the cage 1. The drive mechanism includes a sprocket 3 mounted on the mounting shaft 21, which is located outside the cage 1. The drive mechanism also includes a chain 11 sleeved on the surface of several groups of sprockets 3 and an auxiliary wheel mounted on the cage 1. The auxiliary wheel ensures that the chain 11 wraps around the surface of the sprocket 3 at an angle greater than 120°, further ensuring a tight meshing connection between the chain 11 and the sprocket 3, thereby enabling the drive mechanism to stably control the operation of the support mechanism 2. A crank handle 1 is mounted on the surface of one group of the mounting shafts 21. After the support mechanism 2 has completed separating the excrement of the experimental mouse, the crank handle 10 is controlled to drive one group of the mounting shafts 21 to rotate. Through the coordination of the several groups of sprockets 3 and the chain 11, the several groups of the mounting shafts 21 are controlled to rotate in the same direction. During rotation, the feces trapped on the surface of the mounting shafts 21 are pushed toward the side slots 6, allowing the feces on the surface of the mounting shafts 21 to be discharged through the side slots 6. A guide plate 7 is installed on the surface of the cage body 1 and is located outside the side slot 6. The guide plate 7 can guide the discharged feces to facilitate the collection of the feces.

[0032] Through the structural setting of the support mechanism 2 and the driving mechanism, the urine and feces in the experimental mouse excrement can be separated, and the separated urine and feces can be collected independently. At the same time, the surface of the support mechanism 2 can be cleaned to ensure a healthy breeding environment for the experimental mice.

[0033] The difference lies in the evenly distributed rubber ridges 23 on the surface of the rollers 22. When multiple sets of rollers 22 rotate synchronously and transport feces on their surfaces, the rubber ridges 23 prevent feces from becoming stuck in the gaps between adjacent sets of rollers 22. Furthermore, the rubber ridges 23 on the surfaces of adjacent sets of rollers 22 are staggered, ensuring a constant gap between adjacent sets of mounting shafts 21 to ensure urine drainage. Furthermore, the outer diameter of the rubber ridges 23 is tangential to the outer diameter of adjacent rollers 22, effectively pushing feces out of the gaps between two sets of rollers 22.

[0034] It is worth noting that a scraper 8 is mounted on the inner wall of cage 1. Scraper 8 is located below support mechanism 2, parallel to and in contact with the lower surface of roller 22. When the excrement of the experimental mouse adheres to the surface of roller 22, the driving mechanism is used to discharge the excrement from the support mechanism 2, which in turn controls the rotation of roller 22 against scraper 8. This allows scraper 8 to scrape off the dirt adhered to the surface of roller 22, further cleaning the surface of roller 22 and ensuring a hygienic habitat for the experimental mouse on support mechanism 2.

[0035] A filter screen 9 is also installed inside the cage 1, and the filter screen 9 is located below the scraper 8. The filter screen 9 can intercept the stains scraped off by the scraper 8 to prevent the stains from falling into the flow guide 4 and mixing with urine, resulting in contamination of the sample.

[0036] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements will not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the protection scope of the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A universal rodent metabolic cage, comprising a cage body (1), characterized in that: The cage (1) is provided with a support mechanism (2) for the experimental mice to live in, and the support mechanism (2) includes a mounting shaft (21) inserted into the cage (1), and the mounting shaft (21) is arranged in a plurality of groups with equal distances and linear distribution, and rollers (22) are installed on each of the mounting shafts (21), and a gap is left between two adjacent groups of rollers (22) for filtering excrement, and a deflector (4) is provided below the cage (1), and a urine collection port (5) is provided below the deflector (4), and a side slot (6) is provided on the side of the cage (1). A driving mechanism is installed on the cage (1), and the driving mechanism is used to control the mounting shaft (21) to rotate toward the side of the side slot (6).

2. A universal rodent metabolic cage according to claim 1, characterized in that: One end of the mounting shaft (21) extends through the interior of the cage (1); the driving mechanism comprises a sprocket (3) mounted on the mounting shaft (21); a plurality of groups of sprockets (3) are sleeved with chains (11) on their surfaces; and the driving mechanism further comprises a crank handle (10) mounted on one of the groups of mounting shafts (21).

3. A universal rodent metabolic cage according to claim 2, characterized in that: The surface of the roller (22) is provided with uniformly distributed rubber convex strips (23).

4. A universal rodent metabolic cage according to claim 3, characterized in that: The rubber convex strips (23) arranged on the surfaces of two adjacent groups of rollers (22) are distributed in a staggered manner.

5. A universal rodent metabolic cage according to claim 2, characterized in that: A scraper (8) is installed on the inner wall of the cage (1). The scraper (8) is arranged to be distributed parallel to the roller (22) and to abut against the lower surface of the roller (22).

6. A universal rodent metabolic cage according to claim 5, characterized in that: A filter screen (9) is installed inside the cage (1) below the scraper (8).

7. A universal rodent metabolic cage according to claim 1, characterized in that: A guide plate (7) is installed on the surface of the cage body (1) outside the side slot (6).

Images