RODENT CONTAINMENT CAGE MONITORING APPARATUS AND METHODS

• US 20140123906A1
• Filed: 02/25/2013
• Published: 05/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2010
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Innovive, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Innovive, Inc.
• Inventors: Conger, Dee L., Spivey, Cory, Roes, Michael A., McGuffie, Francesca, Jenson, Leroy
• Application Number:
  US13/776,671
• Publication Number:
  US 20140123906A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 119/416
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 1/0047 Air-conditioning, e.g. ventilation, of animal housings
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 1/031 Cages for laboratory animals; Cages for measuring metabolism of animals

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses and systems for convenient management of animals within a rodent containment cage system that includes labeling components, receiving data, associating the data, reporting the data and/or associations and locating components within the cage system. The management of the system may be self-contained, networked through a controller, local server and/or main server.

Claims

1. A rodent containment cage rack, comprising:

a plurality of cage mount support members each disposed between and connected to a first side member and a second side member,

each support member comprising a wall that contains, or walls that contain, a first support member plenum and a second support member plenum substantially extending the length of the support member,

each support member comprising a first set of cage connection apertures and a second set of cage connection apertures in the wall or walls of a lower surface of a support member, each aperture of the first set of cage connection apertures is in connection with the first support member plenum, and each aperture of the second set of cage connection apertures is in connection with the second support member plenum;

each support member comprising a first set of support member end apertures in connection with the first support member plenum and a second set of support member end apertures in connection with the second support member plenum, each of which end apertures is at the end of each support member that connects to a side member;

each side member comprising a wall that contains, or walls that contain, a first side member plenum and a second side member plenum substantially extending the length of the side member, and

each side member comprising a first set of side member apertures and a second set of side member apertures in the wall or walls of the side member, one or more apertures of the first set of side member apertures are in connection with the first side member plenum and are in effective connection with one or more apertures of the first set of support member end apertures, and one or more apertures of the second set of side member apertures are in connection with the second side member plenum and are in effective connection with one or more apertures of the second set of support member end apertures.

2. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, whereby each first support member plenum is in effective connection with each first side member plenum and each second support member plenum is in effective connection with each second side member plenum.

3. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, wherein the support member apertures are regularly spaced across the transverse axis of the support member.

4. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, comprising a nozzle at each aperture in the support member.

5. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of cage mounts on a bottom surface of each support member.

6. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 5, wherein each cage mount comprises a rail configured to slidingly receive a cage member and a protrusion configured to stop slideable movement of the cage member.

7. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 6, wherein the cage mount comprises a detector configured to detect a detectable identifier on a cage component slidingly engaged with the cage mount.

8. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, comprising a first air connection plate comprising an aperture in effective connection with an aperture on the upper end of a first side member plenum of a side member and comprising a second air connection plate comprising an aperture in effective connection with an aperture on the upper end of a second side member plenum on the opposite side member.

9. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, wherein each support member and each side member comprises a channel configured to receive a communication medium.

10. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 9, which channel comprises a communication medium.

11. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, wherein the rack is configured to, when positive air pressure is supplied to the first side member plenum of a side member, direct air from the first side member plenum of a side member to the first set of side member apertures of a side member to a set of support member end apertures to the first support member plenums and through the first set of cage connection apertures.

12. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, wherein the rack is configured to, when negative air pressure is supplied to the second side member plenum of a side member, direct air through the second set of cage connection apertures to the second support member plenums to a second set of support member end apertures to the second set of side member apertures of a side member and to the second side member plenum of a side member.

13. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, wherein the rack is configured to,

when positive air pressure is supplied to the first side member plenum of a side member, direct air from the first side member plenum of a side member to the first set of side member apertures of a side member to a first set of support member end apertures to the first support member plenums and through the first set of cage connection apertures;

and

when negative air pressure is supplied to the second side member plenum of a side member, direct air through the second set of cage connection apertures to the second support member plenums to a second set of support member end apertures to the second set of side member apertures of a side member and to the second side member plenum of a side member.

14. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, wherein each of the first set of cage connection apertures and each of the second set of cage connection apertures is in effective connection with a cage protrusion connector assembly.

15. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, wherein each cage mount has a channel adapted to contain communication mediums.

16. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, comprising a blower in effective connection with the rack that provides the positive air pressure.

17. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, comprising a blower in effective connection with the rack that provides the negative air pressure.

18. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 11, wherein the pressure across a first support member plenum varies less than 5%.

19. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 1, comprising one or more cages.

20. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 19, wherein air enters each cage effectively through an aperture of the first set of cage connection apertures and exits the cage effectively through an aperture of the second set of cage connection apertures.

21. The rodent containment cage rack of claim 13, wherein the air flow in the first support member plenum and the second support member plenum is transverse to the air flow across the bottom of the one or more cages.