Technical field
[0001] The present invention belongs to animal experimental equipment in medical and biological
fields, and mainly relates to an improvement of a laboratory rodent holding device.
Technical background
[0002] A laboratory rodent holding device is an essential equipment for handling awake rodents
as experimental subjects. Products or solutions with various structures have been
introduced for users to choose and have provided some convenience for animal experiments.
The patent application
CN201310171492A (Yan Tiebin, 2014) discloses a three-dimensional adjustment animal restraining and fixing device, which
is composed of a bottom plate and a clamping mechanism provided with a connecting
unit and a restraining unit. The utility model
CN204133638U (Zhuang Baoxiang, 2015) discloses a rat fixation device for intragastric gavage, comprising fixing and coupling
parts, namely two clamping wings connected through a fixing shaft, plural grasping
teeth, a head fixing plate and an arm protection cover. The patent application
CN201010258156 (Guoxiu Qin, 2011) discloses a multifunctional amplifier for experimental animal (rat) blood withdrawal
and dissection, comprising an universal adjustment rat fixer anchored to a worktable
via adjusting lever, a heating lamp and an observational box composed of an amplifier,
a lighting lamp and a rotary connecting rod. However, most of the existing products
or solutions fix the body of a rodent by restricting its moving range from head to
tail in a substantially enclosed container. Thus, although the fixation can be reliable,
the body itself cannot be completely restricted in most cases; and the substantially
enclosed container almost completely covers the rodent's body, thereby preventing
any operations on it. In some cases where arestricted rodent can be operated, there
is still the problem that the exposed portion of its body is not enough, which limits
the operation choices, including subcutaneous, intra-peritoneal, and intravenous injections.
Technical problem
[0003] The object of the present invention is to overcome the above-mentioned limitations
and develop a rodent-holder allowing for a larger exposure of bodily area with a concomitant
reliable restriction of a rodent, hence meeting wider operational needs of an experiment.
The present invention proposes a technical solution with such performance for the
pointed technical problems to be solved.
Solution on the problem
Technical solution
[0004] The specific content of the present invention is, that the rodent holder includes
a frame, a rodent body-restrainer associated with the frame body, and coupling components
connecting the frame and the restrainer. Wherein, the restrainer is a grille-shaped
component with two halves functioning together in a clamped manner, imitating or approximating
the outer shape of a rodent and restricting it at its position, and the coupling components
further comprise adjustment components capable of changing the position of the grille.
[0005] A grille resembling or approximating the shape and size of a rodent body ensures
the fitness and vicinity of the grille to the corresponding part of the rodent body.
Adjusting the position of the grille-type restrainer is required for the grille to
effectively clamp and relax a rodent body, to adapt to variable rodent bodies of different
sizes, to stably and reliably limit the movement of the rodent, and to timely release
the rodent at the completion of an experiment. The grille-type restrainer can also
significantly reduce the coverage of a rodent body and expose more bodily area, thereby
stabilizing body temperature and facilitating experimental operations. The object
of the present invention is thus achieved and the raised technical problems are solved.
[0006] The object of the present invention can be further achieved by the following scheme.
[0007] The connecting components of the present invention comprise of pairs of sliding bars
that can adjust and fix the position of the grille-shaped restrainer alongside the
rod-type frame or the relative positions between the two halves of the grille, pairs
of sliding bars and pairs of one- or two-way screws to adjust the positions of the
sliding bars, and pairs of ratchet-ratchet couplings that can adjust the relative
shape or angles of each grille finger.
[0008] The pairs of sliding bars, screws and ratchets are all coupling pairs that can change
the relative positions of the connected components, that is, to change the relative
positions between the fixed and movable components, between the active and the passive
components, or between the ratchets; and the sliding or moving couplings can also
be fixed at a new position towards each other. Due to the structural characteristics
of the two-way screws and the ratchet-ratchet coupling pairs, the two mating halves
of the grille can be relatively fixed after adjustment; the two-way screws with opposite
transmission directions can move the coupling parts towards or away from each other,
endowing a higher adjustment efficiency while adjusting the relative position.
[0009] The present invention is provided with a supportive standing plate that is connected
to the front of a frame below a grille, or with a supportive rail connected to the
lower end of each grille finger, for an experimental rodent to enter into the clamping
position. Both the plate and the rail can help the experimental rodent to enter or
exit the rodent holder before and after being restrained.
[0010] The frame of the present invention is a rod-like structure and has detachable and
adjustable supportive legs that can uphold it in either a downside-up or an up-side
down manner. The rod structure can leave more space and provide more convenience to
an experimenter. Originally used as a supporter for the grille-like restrainer, the
frame can not only still maintain the support to the hanged restrainer in its flipped
position, but also turn what is beneath the grille upwards, thereby making the abdomen
of a rodent body held by the grille facing upward. This provides more convenience
for an experimenter; the removable supportive legs facilitate a downside-up or upside-down
conversion of the frame and the grille, meeting an experiment with such needs, increasing
operational options, and are easy to mount, transport and store.
[0011] At the rear of the frame, a removable tail plate that is connected to and adjusted
in its relative horizontal position to the frame via a vertical plate is provided.
The height of the tail plate can also be adjusted according to the heights of the
frame plane and the restrained rodent body. The tail plate has a slit for placing
a rodent tail on its surface. An illuminating and heating light source is provided
below the plate underneath the slit. A glass magnifier is anchored on the tail plate
above the slit, whose position is adjustable in relative position to the tail plate.
[0012] A tail plate belongs to the extension of the frame of a rodent holder, that is, it
is for the fixation of a rodent tail. A light bulb underneath the slit can illuminate
and dilate the tail veins through heating, which eases a tail operation. A glass magnifier
above the slit improves an experimenter's vision of the tail. An adjustable cooperation
between the tail plate and the frame in both horizontal and vertical directions can
meet the needs of various experimental operations.
Beneficial effects of the invention
[0013] The present invention utilizes a contouring grille fit for different rodents, various
types of adjustable components for changing the position of the grille, a supportive
standing plate or a finger-connecting rail, a frame and its removable and adjustable
supportive legs. Besides being more convenient to restrain a rodent, the holder can
adapt to various bodily shapes and sizes, and is easy to operate. While restraining
a rodent, the holder leaves a largely exposed bodily area of the rodent, thereby fitting
various rodent experiments; Its reversed position also increases the flexibility of
the use of the device, so that the ventral side of arodent body can be placed in a
convenient operable position. The glass magnifier placed above the tail improves the
visual environment of the operation, bringing a fuller range of operation on the restricted
rodent. The device is simple and unique in its structure, making it easy to manufacture,
install and use.
Brief descriptions of the drawings
[0014]
Figure 1 is a schematic structural view of a laboratory rodent holder;
Figure 2 is a frontal view of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a top-view of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a frame-supportive leg;
Figure 5 is a top-view of Figure 4;
Figure 6 is a reverse view of a laboratory rodent holder in Figure 1, but without
a tail-fixing plate at the rear end;
Figure 7 is a frontal view of Figure 6;
Figure 8 is a schematic structural view of a sliding tapered pair with a tapered sleeve
and a taper core;
Figure 9 is a partial frontal view of a laboratory rodent holder with a supportive
standing plate in the front and a finger-rail connected to the lower part of a grille;
Figure 10 is a frontal view of a laboratory rodent holder with supportive legs of
adjustable height.
[0015] Names of the components with their referenced numbers in the figures: 1. Horizontal
sliding bar; 2. Grille beam; 3. Grille fingers; 4. Vertical plate and sliding bar;
5. Glass magnifier; 6. Tail plate; 7. Frame; 8. Hinge; 9. Supporting pillar; 10. Connecting
rod; 11. Two-way screw rod; 12. Stopping pair; 13. Two-way screw bolt; 14. Tail plate
slit; 15. Screw-turning handle; 16. Supportive leg; 17. Leg tube; 18. Supportive feet;
19. Rectangular chord; 20. Taper sleeve; 21. Taper core; 22. Standing plate or rail.
Best mode for carrying out the invention
[0016] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
[0017] The best mode for carrying out the current invention is described as follows. A laboratory
rodent holder with supportive legs is disclosed in Figures 1 to 5.
[0018] The frame body (7) of the present example is a
-shaped rod structure on a horizontal plane. On both ends of each of the two horizontal
rods of the
-shaped frame and flanking the central vertical rod, there are a respective pairs
of horizontal sliding bars (1) connected with supporting pillars (9) that can together
freely move alongside each horizontal rod, and in total four sets of such sliding
bars and pillars. The two sliding bars on the same flanking side of the central vertical
rod are connected to each other by a connecting rod (10), and in total two connecting
rods. The two connecting rods are further linked with each other in the middle via
a two-way screw bolt (13) that can rotate in opposite axial directions in parallel
to the two horizontal rods of the frame body, together with a screw rod (11) that
has two opposite axial directions matching the corresponding two-way screw bolt, as
shown in Figure 3. A pair of stopping bars (12) are connected to the central vertical
rod of the frame to stop moving of the screw bolt alongside the screw rod. A turning
handle (15) that is connected and can rotate the screw rod along its axial direction
is also installed.
[0019] The upper ends of the two pillars on either side of the central vertical rod of the
frame are respectively fixed with a grille beam (2). The beam can be contoured at
the corresponding bodily portion of a stepped-in rodent. A rake of multiple grille
fingers (3) that contour around the corresponding portions of a rodent body are fixed
at different positions alongside each beam. The grille fingers stand perpendicularly
on the beam relative to the frame plane, and the fingers between the two beams are
positioned to be able to close each other. In order to adapt to different rodent bodies,
a combination of various pillars, beams and fingers can be provided. In order to improve
the effect of clamping and fixing, it is also considerable to apply a soft material
onto the inner surfaces of the beams and fingers, or to select a flexible material
that is minimally irritating to rodents for the beams and fingers.
[0020] In the rear half of the central vertical rod of the frame, corresponding to the position
where the tail root of a rodent is to be placed, a detachable sliding bar that moves
axially alongside the vertical rod is connected. A short vertical plate (4) perpendicular
to the frame plane is anchored onto the sliding bar, and the vertical plate can be
connected to a supportive rod along either side of the central vertical rod of the
frame, which can contact the second horizontal rod of the frame to stabilize the vertical
plate. A detachable sliding bar moving upwards or downwards along the vertical plate
is also inserted. The sliding baris fixedly connected to ahorizontal tail plate (6)
at the rear of the frame. A tail slit (14) on the tail plate in the longitudal direction
of the central vertical rod of the frame is cut, and its width is narrower than the
average diameter of a rodent tail. Further, a glass magnifier (5) can be connected
onto the tail plate and above the slit, and an illuminating and heating light pulp
can be arranged below the tail plate and underneath the slit.
[0021] Behind the tail plate and at the rear section of the central vertical rod of the
frame, a detachable limiting hinge (8) that can fold the rear part of the central
vertical rod in perpendicular to its longitudinal direction, thereby dividing it into
two connecting parts, can be installed. A detachable chord (19) defining the two parts
of the rod in a rectangular relationship can be also provided. The rear half of the
central vertical rod is slightly longer than the distance from the top end of the
longest grille finger to the frame plane. Furthermore, additional supportive legs
(16) having the same length as the rear half of the central vertical rod are provided
as an attachment of the embodiment. One end of the supportive leg has a tube (17)
that can be connected to the horizontal rod of the frame, and the axis of the tube
is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the supportive leg; The other end
of the supportive leg is hingedly or fixedly connected to three supportive feet (18),
as shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5. This concludes the description of the main structural
contents of an exemplar rodent holder.
[0022] During an experiment, a suitable grille with the set of sliding bars-pillars, grille
beams and grille fingers that fit the body shape and size of an experimental rodent
is selected and assembled, and the experimental animalis made to enter into the grille
from the planar frame. A turning handle is turned to rotate a two-way screw so that
the two halves of the grille, namely including the sliding bars-pillars, the grille
beams and the grille fingers, move towards each other through the connecting rods
of the sliding bars-pillars until the experimental animal is restrained, and a following
experimental operation can be proceeded.
[0023] If an experimental operation is on the back of a restrained rodent, such as a subcutaneous
injection, the skin area required for the operation can be exposed because of large
gaps between the grill fingers on the back side. If an experimental operation involves
the abdominal part of the animal, such as an intraperitoneal injection, then the rear
part of the central vertical rod of the frame can be folded at its hinge site, with
the folded vertical rod stabilized by a rectangular chord, and accessory supportive
legs can be connected to the horizontal rods of the frame via their end tubes. The
device is then turned over so that the folded central vertical rod and the supportive
legs can jointly uphold the inverted frame. At this time, a restrained animal is in
a supine posture with its belly exposed, and an experimenter can perform the corresponding
operation.
[0024] If an experimental operation is in the tail of a restrained animal, such as a tail
vein injection or blood withdrawal, a tail plate and a vertical plate together with
its sliding bars are mounted onto the central vertical rod of the frame before an
experiment. After a rodent is restrained, the vertical plate and the tail plate are
adjusted to place the tail at a proper position. The tail is placed above the slit
on the tail plate, with an underneath illumination LED light and an above glass magnifier
to aid the tail vein injection or blood collection. When an experiment is completed,
the turning handle is turned in a reversed direction to open the grille and release
the restrained animal. The animal can recover a bit on the planar frame, and an experiment
is concluded.
[0025] The body- and tail-fixing components of the present grille-type exemplar device provide
an all-round fixed state for an experimental rodent; the hinged structure of the rear
part of the central vertical rod together with the accessory supportive legs enable
the device to have a reverted position; the glass magnifier improves the visual effect;
the device can bring a full operational convenience to an experiment, and its structure
is simple, unique, convenient to manufacture, install and use.
[0026] The outstanding technical features of the above exemplar device are: 1) It is flexibly
fit for multiple purposes and three-dimensional adjustment, the grille and the frame
are freely coupled and detached; 2) The grille can fix the body of a rodent and enclose
its head well, hence an experimenter can avoid being bitten by the animal, and the
restraint effect is good enough while bringing little harm to the rodent; 3) The grille
is slidable and detachable, and can be used for restraining both rats and mice; 4)
The height and position of the tail plate can be individually adjusted according the
hip size of an animal to ensure a horizontal positioning of its tail on the plate,
which eases tail operation; 5) The tail slit is designed according to the physiological
feature of a rodent tail, and accompanied by a heating light and a magnifier, helps
identify the tail veins to improve the success rate of operation; 6) A detachable
illuminating system makes the device easy to clean and sterilize; 7) The structure
of the device is simple and reasonable, making it easy to operate.
[0027] The laboratory rodent holder is further equipped with fixable sliding bars.
[0028] The coupling between the grille and the frame is realized via pairs of sliding bars-pillars
whose positions can be controlled by a tightening structure instead of a two-way screw
bolt. When the grille position needs to be adjusted, the tightening structure can
like a leash release the sliding gap between a sliding bar-pillar and a horizontal
frame rod. After an appropriate position of the grille is set, the tightening leash
eliminates the sliding gap and gives a certain level of pressure to the sliding bar-pillar
to reinforce its fixed state and position as required for restraining an experimental
animal. This tightening structure can be an ejectable knob between the sliding partners,
pushed-in when sliding is needed and pushed-out when fixation is required. It can
also be just a set of screws on the sliding bars-pillars, a screw is loosened when
the sliding bar-pillar is to be moved and tightened when to be fixed.
[0029] The laboratory rodent holder further comprises a ratchet-ratchet coupling pair, which
is installed in the middle of each grille finger, making a joint to it. Adjusting
the matching teeth positions between the two ratchets can change the bending state
of the fingers and thereby the shape of the grille, while releasing the coupled ratchets
on the fingers can restore the original state of the grille. This functions to adjust
the body-contour shape of the grille.
[0030] A groove can be made on the horizontal rods of a frame, and the relative position
of a sliding bar-pillar alongside the rod can be manually adjusted by its connecting
bolt inside the groove.
[0031] The rodent holder can be equipped with three supportive legs. In this example, the
rear half of the central vertical rod of a frame does not have a folding hinge. The
third supportive leg is structurally the same as the two supportive legs as described
in the first exemplar rodent holder, and can be connected to the rear end of the central
vertical rod, allowing for a reverse support of the device.
[0032] The rodent holder can be equipped with a tapered mating sliding bars, see Figure
8. A taper core (21) is slidably engaged with the frame body or the grille beam. The
tapered tube of the first half of the taper core has a slit in its axial direction
and is discontinuous in the circumferential direction. The tapered tube of the second
half of the taper core has a screw direction matched with that in a taper sleeve (20).
The inner hole of the first half of the taper sleeve is a tapered hole that cooperates
with the first half of the taper core. When the taper sleeve is unscrewed, the tapered
hole is separated from the taper core, and the taper core can slide freely on the
horizontal rod of the frame or the grill beam; when the taper sleeve is screwed, it
encloses towards the taper core until the circumferential gaps in the taper core are
narrowed by the sliding, and the taper hole is also reduced. After eliminating the
sliding gap between the taper core and the horizontal rod of the frame, a further
tightening of the taper sleeve can fix their relative positions toward each other.
At this time, the position of a sliding bar-pillar connected with the taper sleeve
is also fixed on the horizontal rod of the frame. In an opposite operation, the sliding
bar-pillar connected with the taper sleeve can be uncoupled with the horizontal rod
of the frame or repositioned, and a restraint rodent can be released.
[0033] The rodent holder can be equipped with a supportive frontal standing plate. In this
example, a standing plate (22) is connected to the front of a frame, see Figure 9.
The plate is L-shaped and has grooves on its one wing corresponding to the positions
of the central rod of the frame and the grille beams. In its use, the central rod
and beams are inserted into the grooved wing of the standing plate and the other wing
is connected horizontally to the frame, making it a supportive standing place for
a rodent. After clamping of the grille, the plate can be removed. This helps for an
easy entry and exit of the grille for a rodent.
[0034] The rodent holder can be equipped with a supportive rail (22) on the grille, as shown
in Figure 9. In this example, the two grille halves on opposite sides are mutually
staggered, and under the grille, a supportive rail is connected to the grille beam
and the associated grille fingers on the same side, which laterally extends towards
each other to form a full rail when the grille is closed. The rail is at a height
suitable for a rodent to stand on and step in and out of the grille.
[0035] The rodent holder can be equipped with supportive legs of adjustable heights, see
Figure 10. In this example, multiple supportive legs of adjustable heights can be
connected to the frame. The frame is supported by the legs, and the heights of the
legs can be adjusted so that the flanking side of a restrained rodent's body is likely
to be seen at different positions. This design meets an experiment with such a need.
1. A laboratory rodent holder comprising a frame (7), a fixing component for restricting
the movement of a rodent body, and coupling components connecting the frame and the
fixing component, characterized in that the fixing component is a grille-shaped restrainer with two halves imitating or approximating
a rodent body, equipped with grille beams (2) and grille fingers (3) connected to
the frame (7), and the rear portion of the frame (7) comprises a horizontal removable
tail plate (6) with a tail slit (14), which positions are adjustable in relation to
the grille beam (2) and the frame (7), and a vertical plate (4) with coupling components,
whereas the coupling components include adjustment components to change the position
of the grille-shaped restrainer, and aforesaid adjustment components comprise pairs
of sliding bars, one-way or two-way screw pairs having opposite transmission directions,
and ratchet-ratchet coupling pairs for changing the relative positions between different
parts of a single grille finger (3).
2. The laboratory rodent holder according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a supportive
standing plate (22) below the grille beam (2) connected to the frame (7); or a supportive
rail (22) connected to the lower end of each grille finger (3) to let rodent to enter
or exit the rodent holder.
3. The laboratory rodent holder according to any preceding claims, wherein the frame
(7) is a rod structure, and is equipped with supportive legs (16) that further support
the frame (7) in an either downside-up or up-side down position.
4. The laboratory rodent holder according to any preceding claims, which further comprises
an illuminating and heating light source arranged below the tail plate (6) underneath
the tail slit (14), and a magnifying glass arranged on the tail plate (6) above the
tail slit (14), which position is adjustable.
1. Der Labor-Nagetierhalter mit einem Rahmen (7), einem Befestigungselement zur Einschränkung
der Bewegung eines Nagetierkörpers und Kopplungselementen, die den Rahmen und das
Befestigungselement verbinden, wobei das Befestigungselement ein gitterförmiger Halter mit zwei Hälften ist, die einen
Nagetierkörper imitieren oder sich diesem annähern und mit Gitterträgern (2) und Gitterfingern
(3) ausgestattet sind, die mit dem Rahmen (7) verbunden sind, und der hintere Teil
des Rahmens (7) eine horizontale, abnehmbare Heckplatte (6) mit einem Heckschlitz
(14), dessen Positionen in Bezug auf den Gitterträger (2) und den Rahmen (7) einstellbar
sind, und eine vertikale Platte (4) mit Verbindungselementen, wobei die Verbindungselemente
Einstellkomponenten umfassen, um die Position des gitterförmigen Halters zu ändern,
und die vorgenannten Einstellkomponenten umfassen Paare von Gleitstäben, Einweg- oder
Zweiweg-Schraubenpaare mit entgegengesetzten Übertragungsrichtungen und Ratschen-Kupplungspaare
zur Änderung der relativen Positionen zwischen verschiedenen Teilen eines einzigen
Gitterfingers (3).
2. Der Labor-Nagetierhalter nach Anspruch 1 oder 2, der außerdem eine stützende Standplatte
(22) unterhalb des Gitterträgers (2), die mit dem Rahmen (7) verbunden ist, oder eine
stützende Schiene (22) umfasst, die mit dem unteren Ende jedes Gitterfingers (3) verbunden
ist, um Nagetiere in den Nagetierhalter hinein- oder herauszulassen.
3. Der Labor-Nagetierhalter nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche, wobei der Rahmen
(7) eine Stabstruktur ist und mit Stützbeinen (16) ausgestattet ist, die den Rahmen
(7) entweder in einer nach unten oder nach oben zeigenden Position halten.
4. Der Labor-Nagetierhalter nach einem der vorhergehenden Ansprüche umfasst außerdem
eine unterhalb der Schwanzplatte (6) unterhalb des Schwanzschlitzes (14) angebrachte
Beleuchtungs- und Heizlichtquelle und eine auf der Schwanzplatte (6) oberhalb des
Schwanzschlitzes (14) angeordnete Lupe, deren Position einstellbar ist.
1. Un support pour rongeurs de laboratoire comprenant un cadre (7), un élément de fixation
pour limiter le mouvement d'un corps de rongeur, et des composants d'accouplement
reliant le cadre et l'élément de fixation, caractérisé en ce que l'élément de fixation est un dispositif de retenue en forme de grille avec ses deux
parties imitant ou se rapprochant d'un corps de rongeur, équipées de poutres de grille
(2) et de doigts de grille (3) reliés au cadre (7), tandis que la partie arrière du
cadre (7) comprend une plaque de queue (6) amovible horizontale avec un fente de queue
(14), dont les positions sont réglables par rapport à la poutre de grille (2) et au
cadre (7), et une plaque verticale (4) avec des composants d'accouplement, tandis
que les composants d'accouplement comprennent des éléments de réglage pour changer
la position du dispositif de retenue en forme de grille, les éléments de réglage évoqués
ci-dessus comprenant des paires de barres coulissantes, des paires de vis unidirectionnelles
ou bidirectionnelles avec des directions de transmission opposées, et des paires d'accouplement
cliquet-cliquet pour modifier les positions relatives entre les parties différentes
d'un même doigt de grille (3).
2. Le support pour rongeurs de laboratoire selon la revendication 1 ou 2, comprenant
en outre une plaque debout de support (22) au-dessous de la poutre de grille (2) reliée
au cadre (7) ; ou un rail de support (22) relié à l'extrémité inférieure de chaque
doigt de grille (3) pour permettre l'entrée ou la sortie des rongeurs du support pour
rongeurs.
3. Le support pour rongeurs de laboratoire selon l'une quelconque des revendications
précédentes, dans lequel le cadre (7) est une structure en tige et est équipé de pattes
de support (16) supportant en outre le cadre (7) dans une position soit en sens dessous
dessus soit en sens dessus dessous.
4. Le support pour rongeurs de laboratoire selon l'une quelconque des revendications
précédentes, comprenant en outre une source de lumière d'éclairage et de chauffage
disposée sous la plaque de queue (6) au-dessous de la fente de queue (14), ainsi qu'une
loupe disposée sur la plaque de queue (6) au-dessus de la fente de queue (14), et
dont la position est réglable.