Ventilated animal cage rack
First Claim
1. A ventilated animal cage rack comprising:
- an open-front housing having spaced transverse partition walls extending the width thereof and dividing said housing into a plurality of horizontally-disposed shelf compartments, each compartment having a solid, imperforate ceiling and a solid, imperforate floor and being sized to house a plurality of animal cages having imperforate side and bottom walls and open tops,a plurality of retractable transparent doors closing off the front open end of said housing and cooperating with said partition walls to seal off and isolate the interiors of said shelf compartments from one another,means mounting each of said doors on said housing for individual movement between a closed position covering over at least one of said shelf compartments and an open position providing access to said shelf compartments,a low pressure plenum extending vertically along one side of said housing in communication with an air exhaust system exteriorly of said housing.each shelf compartment having an air outlet opening at one end communicating with said plenum, and an air inlet opening at the opposite end opening exteriorly of said cage rack, whereby air is drawn from the atmosphere surrounding said cage rack through the inlet opening of each shelf compartment and passes horizontally in a laminar low-velocity flow through said shelf compartment to said outlet opening and into said plenum,means for removably mounting a plurality of said animal cages in a transverse row along each of said shelf compartments with the open tops of said cages spaced an appreciable distance below the ceiling of said shelf compartment,the inlet and outlet openings of each shelf compartment being positioned to direct said air flow across the top open ends of the row of cages mounted in said shelf compartment, thereby ventilating each shelf compartment individually and isolating the shelf compartments from the exterior of said cage rack.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A ventilated animal cage rack has a hollow housing divided into a plurality of horizontally-disposed shelf compartments separated from each other by partition walls and having front open ends normally closed off by transparent doors which isolate the interiors of the shelf compartments from each other and from the interior of the room containing the cage rack. Each shelf compartment is sized to contain a row of horizontally-spaced animal cages having open top ends and closed bottom ends, with the open top ends spaced well below the ceiling of the shelf compartment. A low pressure air plenum extends vertically along one side of the cage rack and communicates with one side of each of said shelf compartments, the other sides of which contain air inlet openings communicating with the room interior, thereby providing a low-pressure negative air flow along the top open ends of the contained animal cages to said air plenum and then to a room exhaust system. The animal cage rack is provided with a watering system including an individual water dispensing valve for each of the contained animal cages, and each cage is provided with an access opening through which the animals therein may reach the respective dispensing valve. Each shelf is provided with a guide member for each animal cage stored therein, each guide member being precision formed to insure accurate registry of the access opening of the inserted animal cage with the respective water dispensing valve.
102 Citations
19 Claims
-
1. A ventilated animal cage rack comprising:
-
an open-front housing having spaced transverse partition walls extending the width thereof and dividing said housing into a plurality of horizontally-disposed shelf compartments, each compartment having a solid, imperforate ceiling and a solid, imperforate floor and being sized to house a plurality of animal cages having imperforate side and bottom walls and open tops, a plurality of retractable transparent doors closing off the front open end of said housing and cooperating with said partition walls to seal off and isolate the interiors of said shelf compartments from one another, means mounting each of said doors on said housing for individual movement between a closed position covering over at least one of said shelf compartments and an open position providing access to said shelf compartments, a low pressure plenum extending vertically along one side of said housing in communication with an air exhaust system exteriorly of said housing. each shelf compartment having an air outlet opening at one end communicating with said plenum, and an air inlet opening at the opposite end opening exteriorly of said cage rack, whereby air is drawn from the atmosphere surrounding said cage rack through the inlet opening of each shelf compartment and passes horizontally in a laminar low-velocity flow through said shelf compartment to said outlet opening and into said plenum, means for removably mounting a plurality of said animal cages in a transverse row along each of said shelf compartments with the open tops of said cages spaced an appreciable distance below the ceiling of said shelf compartment, the inlet and outlet openings of each shelf compartment being positioned to direct said air flow across the top open ends of the row of cages mounted in said shelf compartment, thereby ventilating each shelf compartment individually and isolating the shelf compartments from the exterior of said cage rack. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A ventilated animal cage rack comprising:
-
an open-front housing having spaced transverse partition walls extending the width thereof and dividing said housing into a plurality of horizontally-disposed shelf compartments, each compartment having a ceiling and a floor and being sized to house a plurality of animal cages having open tops, a plurality of transparent doors closing off the front open end of said housing and isolating the interiors of said shelf compartments from one another, means mounting each of said doors on said housing for individual movement between a closed position covring over at least one of said shelf compartments and an open position providing access to said shelf compartments, a low pressure plenum extending vertically along one side of said housing in communication with an air exhaust system exteriorly of said housing, each shelf compartment having an air outlet opening at one end communicating with said plenum, and an air inlet opening at the opposite end opening exteriorly of said cage rack, whereby air is drawn from the atmosphere surrounding said cage rack through the inlet opening of each shelf compartment and passes in a laminar low-velocity flow through said shelf compartment to said outlet opening and into said plenum, means for removably mounting a plurality of said animal cages in a transverse row along each of said shelf compartments with the open tops of said cages spaced an appreciable distance below the ceiling of said shelf compartment, said mounting means including a guide bracket for each of said cages, each guide bracket comprising a flat plate secured to the rear wall of said housing within a shelf compartment, a pair of spaced guide arms secured to said plate and projecting forwardly therefrom, and a cross bar interconnecting said guide arms, said guide arms being spaced to engage the side walls of an animal cage inserted therebetween to restrain lateral movement of said inserted cage, said cross bar being positioned to engage the rear wall of the inserted cage to restrain further movement thereof inwardly of said shelf compartment, said mounting means also including a stop bar mounted on the floor of said shelf compartment forwardly of said guide bracket, said stop bar extending parallel to said bracket cross bar and being positioned to engage the front wall of the inserted animal cage to prevent movement thereof outwardly of said shelf compartment, the inlet and outlet openings of each shelf compartment being positioned to direct said air flow across the top open ends of the row of cages mounted in said shelf compartment, thereby ventilating each shelf compartment individually and isolating the shelf compartments from the exterior of said cage rack. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
Specification