This application claims priority to Italian Application No. 102021000013352, filed May 24, 2021, which is incorporated herein by specific reference.
The present invention relates to a rack-type mobile device for presenting breeding cages and parts thereof for washing, the device being adapted to be inserted into a washing/rinsing machine for use in pharmaceutical preclinical research centres.
In the field of pharmaceutical preclinical research, and particularly in the field of breeding cages, and associated washing areas, where laboratory animals are bred, it is known that washing and/or rinsing systems need to be used for cleaning and reusing animal breeding cages of variable sizes manufactured using different technologies and different materials compatible with such application.
In particular, batch-type washing and/or rinsing systems exist which are based on variable-size machines wherein cages and components thereof are presented to the washing system after having been loaded on a presentation carriage suitable for both washing and transporting them; such machines are commonly called “rack washers”, whereas such presentation carriages are called “presentation racks”.
In addition to being manually loaded by an operator, such presentation racks may also, in some specific cases, be automated for both loading the cages and transporting the rack through the washing areas.
Presentation racks are usually so designed as to “present” cages and their accessory parts to the washing systems included in rack washer machines.
These washing systems may be of several types, e.g., with fixed, oscillating or translating rods or with rotary arms.
Such rack washer machines (
The rack can also be schematized, by way of non-limiting example, as a parallelepipedon 2 (while it may also have a cylindrical shape or other known shapes), which is inserted into the machine and exposed to the washing systems.
It is clear that the lateral zones of the rack are more exposed to the washing systems; therefore, the cages are normally exposed on such two sides of the rack in order to make use of both washing banks.
As is known, a breeding cage (
The racks known in the art (
The shelves are also designed to prevent the impact force of the washing fluid from overturning or moving the cage parts, thus making the washing action ineffective or incorrectly repositioning them and causing accumulation of washing fluid within the cages themselves (e.g., cage inside turned upwards, acting as a container for the fluid).
Such shelves 3 may also be suitably used for housing, in addition to bases, tops 5, which are used for closing the cage bases and are very often washed together with said bases, as well as for housing lids 6, which are usually inserted in the cages. The shape of such tops is such as to allow only some specific presentation positions in the racks, in order to ensure complete water drainage from their surfaces, while lids are light components made of metal or plastic that can easily move during the washing and therefore, due to their very construction, are not subject to liquid stagnation.
The racks known in the art are manufactured by using different construction solutions according to the case, but substantially suffer from the following main drawbacks:
In order to be able to load cage parts, in particular bigger ones, a gap is required between the shelves which must be greater than the biggest size (in particular, the base depth) to be loaded. In fact, if the shelves are vertically close to each other, more rows will be available, but it will be impossible to load such bigger bases.
No specific containment systems exist for bases, tops and lids: when the rack is not fully loaded, bases and tops will very often tend to fall sideways, resulting in poor exposure to the washing jets and potential creation of washing liquid accumulation areas. Moreover, lids are often stacked to prevent them from moving, since they are very light and cannot be placed in a specific position, resulting in drastically reduced washing performance.
Furthermore, the chosen construction sometimes makes such racks very bulky and heavy, so that they are difficult to move within the washing area, hindering also the loading and unloading thereof from the machine 1: it may happen, in fact, that in some areas access to the washing chamber is provided through inclined ramps, where the architectural situation of the washing area is such that these machines cannot be installed on a suitable baseplate provided with a water collection pit under the floor level.
Due to such construction geometries, the solutions currently employed are normally based on fixed systems, i.e., the number of horizontal rows cannot be configured. Therefore, the racks are dedicated to a given cage set, and a different configuration will require changing the whole rack.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a rack-type mobile device for presenting breeding cages and parts thereof for washing, the device being adapted to be inserted into a washing/rinsing machine for use in the field of pharmaceutical preclinical research, which can overcome all of the above-mentioned drawbacks.
The present invention concerns a novel type of rack-shaped mobile device comprising a system for loading bases, tops and lids of breeding cages, which, as it replaces the traditional object containment system, wherein the parts are positioned and laid thereon, with a system wherein the parts are hooked and retained thereon, provides a significant increase, the available height of the mobile device being equal, in the number of rows and hence in the number of bases, tops and lids that can be loaded, while still presenting the latter properly and also promoting a correct retention of said parts in all directions, with no inappropriate displacement thereof.
The present invention aims to provide a rack-type mobile device for presenting parts of breeding cages for washing, the device being adapted to be inserted into a washing/rinsing machine for use in pharmaceutical preclinical research centres, the device comprising:
It is a particular object of the present invention to provide a rack-type mobile device for presenting breeding cages and parts thereof for washing, the device being adapted to be inserted into a washing/rinsing machine for use in the field of pharmaceutical preclinical research, as will be further set out in the claims, which are an integral part of the present description.
Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in light of the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment (and variants thereof) provided herein with reference to the annexed drawings, which are only supplied by way of non-limiting example, wherein:
a show a perspective view and a sectional side view, respectively, of another possible variant of the method of insertion of a cage top in the hooks according to the invention;
a show a perspective view and a sectional side view, respectively, of a part of the rack-type mobile device, highlighting one possible method of insertion of a cage lid in the hooks according to the invention;
In the drawings, the same reference numerals and letters identify the same items or components.
As mentioned above, the present invention relates to a novel type of rack-shaped mobile device comprising a system for loading bases, tops and lids, or other parts, of breeding cages, which provides, the available height of the mobile device being the same, a significant increase in the number of rows, and hence in the number of bases, tops and lids, or other parts, that can be loaded, while still properly presenting the latter and also promoting retention in all directions.
In a first construction variant, such mobile device is essentially made up of the following main elements (
Other features and variants of the above-mentioned elements of the mobile device will be described in detail below.
As shown in
In one possible variant, the inclination of the stable hooking and positioning elements 15 can be changed by means of an angle adjustment system, not shown in the drawings.
The countering element 16, if present, is free to oscillate and adapts itself by abutting at its rear on the back of the base 4, thereby improving the retention effect, especially with very light cages that may undergo critical movements under the hydraulic thrust. Anyway, the presence of the countering element 16 is not essential for properly supporting the base 4.
Since at least two hooks are engaged for each base (as will be explained hereinafter), the system also prevents the bases from moving sideways past the limits allowed by the hooks.
The hooking system differs from a prior-art supporting system in that it permits keeping a suitable distance in the vertical direction between the supporting elements 15 and hence between the horizontal rows of cages, depending on the size of the latter, while increasing the number of the same, the total height of the rack-type mobile device being equal. The horizontal rows of cages can be arranged at a mutual distance which is shorter than the length of the cages on the same lateral part. This makes it possible to load big and deep cages while keeping them spaced apart and partially overlapped in the horizontal direction.
Advantageously, in fact, the horizontal rows can be positioned at a mutual distance that can be adjusted either in steps or continuously, by means of quick-coupling systems and/or removable fastening systems (screw, bolt, or the like) and/or fixed fastening systems (welding or riveting) positioned on the vertical members 10′. A non-limiting example is shown in
In a variant not shown in the drawings, the hooks 15 may also slide continuously and then be fixed, or move in fixed steps along the horizontal direction, and possibly removed, in order to facilitate the positioning according to the type of cage to be processed.
In a variant not shown in the drawings, such hooks, which, as aforementioned, are at least two per cage, can be obtained from a single supporting element 15.
As aforesaid, the system for hooking the base 4 is based on a rotational movement of the base, which allows the latter to be inserted in the hooks 15 by exploiting the gap between two successive levels of horizontal members 10″ and to be correctly presented for washing (
The above-described hooking system represents a non-limiting example of possible construction variants. In this case, the geometry of the terminal part 22 of the hook (
In one variant (
In one variant (
The terminal part 15′ of the hooking system that rests on the cages may be protected by a suitable washable soft plastic plug, preventing the inside of the cage from getting scored.
As far as additional construction details of the hooking system are concerned, it may be constructed as highlighted in
The connection to the frame may be achieved by suitably shaping the hooking system and the seat on the horizontal member 10″, or by fastening it with a screw 32 (
In a version not shown in the drawings, such connection to the frame is achieved by means of a continuous positioning and locking system adapted to adjust the distance between the hooking systems.
The zone intended for retaining the lid 6 or the top 5 may be provided as highlighted in
It must be pointed out that the hooking system has a one-piece dual structure that extends on both lateral parts of the mobile device, thus comprising two opposing hooks.
It is nevertheless possible, for each one of the above-described variants, to employ hooking systems having a single extension 151 separately on each one of the two lateral parts of the mobile device, as shown in
It is also possible to create a single-bank mobile device, as highlighted in
It is possible to provide specific frame connections and, for example, containment zones specially dedicated to tops or lids in different suitable positions.
As concerns the hydraulic thrust countering element 16 (see details in
In the non-limiting example illustrated in
In one variant, the countering element 16 may have a different number of longitudinal elements, e.g., only one.
In one variant, the tops 5 may be arranged by fitting them into the seats 25 (
The weight of the countering element in relation to the lever arm generated (through the vertical supporting elements 27′, 27″), and hence to the hooking point 26, permits, on the one hand, an easy positioning of the components by swinging it, while on the other hand generating a supporting counterthrust sufficient to resist the thrust exerted on the cages by the washing jets.
The countering element 16 may be made of metal.
The same result can be attained by using different construction solutions or by exploiting dedicated supporting systems or systems connected differently to the rest of the frame; in addition, dedicated solutions may be provided for particular types of components.
As concerns the lids 6, they can be inserted in the hooks 15 in a backward-tilted position. The suitable conformation of the hooks 15 permits presenting the lids 6 side by side, as opposed to overlapped, while nevertheless ensuring full retention thereof (
The countering element 16, if present, in front of the lids may contribute to correctly retaining the lids, but it is an optional, non-essential part.
It is in fact possible (
The following will describe some further construction variants of the frame of the rack-type mobile device of the invention, as alternatives to the above-described solution making use of single horizontal central elements supporting the stable hooking and positioning elements 15. The frame variant described below can be used in combination with all of the above-described embodiments of the stable hooking and positioning elements 15.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
Therefore, the frame comprises a load-bearing structure 10 adapted to support the elements that support the stable hooking and positioning elements 15 of all of the above-described frame variants. The load-bearing structure 10 may comprise substantially straight or curvilinear members.
For moving the mobile device, some possible variants of the above-described moving device 11, connected to the frame base, may consist of systems movable on rails. The rails may either rest on the ground (connected to the frame base) or be arranged at the top (connected to the frame roof). As a further alternative, automatic moving devices may be provided, e.g., computer-controlled ones.
The base, top and lid types shown herein are merely illustrative and non-limiting, since the mobile presentation device of the invention is applicable to all products and parts thereof available on the market for this kind of application.
Also the number of rows is merely indicative and typical of this application: by optimizing the gap for smaller cages only, for example, racks can be created wherein row density is further increased.
The most important advantages of the mobile presentation device of the invention, compared with prior-art racks, are the following:
The above-described non-limiting examples may be subject to further construction variations without however departing from the protection scope of the present invention.
The elements and features shown in the various preferred embodiments may be combined together without however departing from the protection scope of the present invention, in accordance with the dependency structure of the following claims.
From the above description, those skilled in the art will be able to produce the object of the invention without introducing any further construction details.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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102021000013352 | May 2021 | IT | national |
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Entry |
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Italian Search Report dated Apr. 1, 2022, issued in Italian Application No. 102021000013352, filed May 24, 2021. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20220371061 A1 | Nov 2022 | US |