Apparatus for transporting laboratory animals
First Claim
1. An apparatus for transporting laboratory animals, the apparatus comprising:
- a container defining a cavity for housing at least one laboratory animal, the container having an open top;
a cover piece being connectable with the container for closing the open top of the container, the cover piece having a passage through which the at least one laboratory animal passes during insertion into and extraction from the cavity; and
a closure piece being associated with the cover piece and including a portion that is rotatable relative to the cover piece between a first position in which the portion of the closure piece closes the passage in the cover piece to retain the at least one laboratory animal within the cavity and a second position in which the passage in the cover piece is open to permit the insertion and extraction of the at least one laboratory animal through the passage, the closure piece also including a plurality of air passages which permit airflow into and out of the cavity, filter material covering the air passages for preventing contaminants from entering the cavity,the closure piece including an aligning pin, the aligning pin extending downwardly from the closure piece, the cover piece including an aperture for receiving the aligning pin.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus (10) for transporting laboratory animals comprises a container (12), a cover piece (14), and a closure piece (16). The container (12) has an open top. The cover piece (14) is connectable with the container (12) for closing the open top of the container (12). The cover piece (14) has a passage (188) through which the at least one laboratory animal passes during insertion into and extraction from a cavity (28). The closure piece (16) includes a portion (234) that is rotatable relative to the cover piece (14) between a first position in which the portion (234) of the closure piece (16) closes the passage (188) in the cover piece (14) and a second position in which the passage (188) in the cover piece (14) is open to permit the insertion and extraction of the at least one laboratory animal through the passage (188).
73 Citations
22 Claims
-
1. An apparatus for transporting laboratory animals, the apparatus comprising:
-
a container defining a cavity for housing at least one laboratory animal, the container having an open top; a cover piece being connectable with the container for closing the open top of the container, the cover piece having a passage through which the at least one laboratory animal passes during insertion into and extraction from the cavity; and a closure piece being associated with the cover piece and including a portion that is rotatable relative to the cover piece between a first position in which the portion of the closure piece closes the passage in the cover piece to retain the at least one laboratory animal within the cavity and a second position in which the passage in the cover piece is open to permit the insertion and extraction of the at least one laboratory animal through the passage, the closure piece also including a plurality of air passages which permit airflow into and out of the cavity, filter material covering the air passages for preventing contaminants from entering the cavity, the closure piece including an aligning pin, the aligning pin extending downwardly from the closure piece, the cover piece including an aperture for receiving the aligning pin. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. An apparatus for transporting laboratory animals, the apparatus comprising:
-
a container defining a cavity for housing at least one laboratory animal, the container having an open top; a cover piece being connectable with the container for closing the open top of the container, the cover piece having a passage through which the at least one laboratory animal passes during insertion into and extraction from the cavity; and a closure piece being associated with the cover piece and including a portion that is rotatable relative to the cover piece between a first position in which the portion of the closure piece closes the passage in the cover piece to retain the at least one laboratory animal within the cavity and a second position in which the passage in the cover piece is open to permit the insertion and extraction of the at least one laboratory animal through the passage, the closure piece also including a plurality of air passages which permit airflow into and out of the cavity, filter material covering the air passages for preventing contaminants from entering the cavity, the cover piece including a protuberance, the passage through which the at least one laboratory animal passes being located in an upper surface of the protuberance, the protuberance also including structure for securing the closure piece to the protuberance. - View Dependent Claims (15)
-
-
16. An apparatus for transporting laboratory animals, the apparatus comprising:
-
a container defining a cavity for housing at least one laboratory animal, the container having an open top; a cover piece being connectable with the container for closing the open top of the container, the cover piece having a passage through which the at least one laboratory animal passes during insertion into and extraction from the cavity; and a closure piece being associated with the cover piece and including a portion that is rotatable relative to the cover piece between a first position in which the portion of the closure piece closes the passage in the cover piece to retain the at least one laboratory animal within the cavity and a second position in which the passage in the cover piece is open to permit the insertion and extraction of the at least one laboratory animal through the passage, the closure piece also including a plurality of air passages which permit airflow into and out of the cavity, filter material covering the air passages for preventing contaminants from entering the cavity, the closure piece including a raised ridge that outlines an area of the closure piece that includes the plurality of air passages.
-
-
17. An apparatus for transporting laboratory animals, the apparatus comprising:
-
a container defining a cavity for housing at least one laboratory animal, the container having a rim that defines an open top of the container; a cover piece that is adapted to snap onto the rim of the container for connecting the cover piece to the container for closing the open top of the container, the cover piece including structure for securing the cover piece on the container to prevent removal of the cover piece from the container by the at least one laboratory animal, the cover piece further including a passage through which the at least one laboratory animal passes during insertion into and extraction from the cavity; and a closure piece that is adapted to be supported by the cover piece, the closure piece including a portion that is rotatable relative to the cover piece between a first position in which the portion of the closure piece closes the passage in the cover piece to retain the at least one laboratory animal within the cavity and a second position in which the passage in the cover piece is open to permit the insertion and extraction of the at least one laboratory animal through the passage. - View Dependent Claims (18)
-
-
19. An apparatus for transporting laboratory animals, the apparatus comprising:
-
a container defining a cavity for housing at least one laboratory animal, the container having a bottom wall, at least one side wall, and an open top, the at least one side wall including a plurality of air passages that permit airflow into and out of the cavity, filter material covering the air passages for preventing contaminants from entering the cavity; and structure for closing the open top of the container for retaining the at least one laboratory animal in the cavity, the structure including and outer periphery and a first mating protrusion that extends outwardly in a first direction beyond the outer periphery of the structure, the first mating protrusion being constructed for engaging a corresponding mating projection of an adjacent apparatus that is located beside the apparatus so as to prevent movement of the apparatus relative to the adjacent apparatus in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction, the structure further including a second mating protrusion that extends outwardly in the second direction beyond the outer periphery of the structure and is constructed for engaging a second corresponding mating protrusion of a second adjacent apparatus so as to prevent movement of the apparatus relative to the second adjacent apparatus in the first direction. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
-
Specification