JP2007325684A - ICU unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ICU (intensive care unit) unit easily mounted through one-touch operation and not hindering visibility of the condition of a pet in a cage. <P>SOLUTION: A thin-type casing 5, in which a Peltier cooling unit 4 is arranged and cooling fans 7 and air intake/exhaust fans 9 are arranged in both the sides of the Peltier cooling unit 4 respectively so as to be in communication with the inside and the outside of a cage 1, is inserted in the upper side or one or both sides in the inside of the cage 1 having a door 2 in an opening portion of a front face or the one side of the right and left sides by a guide mechanism 6 so as to be able to take out and take in. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention provides an ICU (intensive care unit) that can control oxygen concentration, temperature and humidity, etc., in order to assist recovery from a dangerous state after surgery when it is necessary to perform intensive care after surgery of a small animal. The present invention relates to an ICU unit that is detachably attached to a living body accommodation space accommodated in a cage.

Conventionally, this type of ICU unit is broadly divided into a simple one that is detachably mounted on an existing cage door and a dedicated cage that integrates control equipment. Among these, as a simple one that is detachably attached to the cage door, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is set to a size that can cover the entire front surface of the cage to be attached, A horizontally long casing is attached to a predetermined position of a flat plate made of a transparent acrylic plate that can be attached in close contact with the front of the cage via a mounting tool, and a Peltier cooling unit, an air purifier, a heater, In addition, there is a technology called an ICU unit in which oxygen valves are arranged in the horizontal direction in this order.
In this way, the ICU unit enables advanced temperature / humidity control based on the principle that when a current is applied to a so-called Peltier element to which a thermoelectric cooling semiconductor is applied, one side of the element becomes cold and the other side becomes warm.

Further, in this ICU unit, an endothermic fan is disposed on the back side substantially corresponding to the oxygen valve on the downstream side of the heater, and a drain pan is disposed immediately below the Peltier cooling unit. Further, a power supply and a control board are arranged on the front side in correspondence with the air cleaner, heater, oxygen valve, and heat absorption fan, and an operation panel is arranged on the front surface of the casing.
JP 2002-177346 A

  However, in the past, since the ICU unit is directly fixed to a flat plate made of a transparent acrylic plate, which is the front door of the cage, a large load is applied to the connecting portion such as a hinge between the cage and the front door. Due to the distortion, the durability is lacking. Moreover, it takes time and effort to attach / detach the ICU unit to / from the front door. Further, since the ICU unit fixed to the front door is large, it has various problems such as it is difficult to check the state of the pet inside the cage.

  Therefore, the present invention has been devised in view of the conventional circumstances as described above, and does not apply a large load that causes distortion in the connecting portion such as a hinge between the cage and the front door. An ICU unit that can be easily attached with one touch without taking time and effort to attach / detach the ICU unit to / from the front door, and that does not hinder the visibility of pets inside the cage. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, in the present invention, a Peltier cooling unit is disposed on the upper side of the cage having a transparent door at the front opening, or both the left and right sides or one side, and the Peltier cooling is performed. A thin casing in which cooling fans and suction / exhaust fans are communicated to the inside and outside of the cage body on both sides of the unit is inserted and retracted by a guide mechanism.

  The guide mechanism is configured so that the casing itself is hung by inserting the hanging portions formed at both ends of the casing into the hanging guide portions formed at both ends of the inner wall of the cage toward the opening from the opening side. It consists of

  The Peltier cooling unit side is provided with a locking projection that abuts against the inner wall of the casing so as to form a space inside the heat radiating exhaust port provided in the casing.

  The Peltier cooling unit includes a cooling heat sink that communicates with the rear cooling fan, a heat radiation heat sink that communicates with the front suction / exhaust fan, and a Peltier element that is thermally connected to both sinks.

  According to the present invention, a large load that causes distortion in the connecting portion such as a hinge and the like between the cage and the front door is not applied, and it does not take time and effort to attach / detach the ICU unit to / from the front door. And can be easily mounted and does not hinder the visibility of the pet inside the cage.

  That is, the Peltier cooling unit is attached to the upper side of the cage, or both the left and right sides or one side regardless of the door, so that no load is applied to the door itself and no distortion occurs. Therefore, it can be set as the cage structure with the Peltier cooling unit excellent in durability.

  In addition, the guide mechanism inserts the hanging portions formed at both ends of the casing into the hanging guide portions formed at both ends of the inner wall of the cage toward the opening portion from the opening portion side so that the casing itself is hung. As a result, the Peltier cooling unit can be easily attached to and detached from the cage with a single touch, improving workability. Moreover, it can be mounted on various cages manufactured by other companies, and is versatile. Further, since the casing itself in which the Peltier cooling unit is disposed is small and thin, and is provided separately from the door, a cage with good visibility can be obtained.

  Since the Peltier cooling unit is provided with a locking projection that abuts against the inner wall of the casing so as to form a space inside the heat exhaust port provided in the casing, the heat dissipation effect to the outside of the casing is improved.

  The Peltier cooling unit is composed of a cooling heat sink that leads to the rear cooling fan, a heat dissipation heat sink that leads to the front suction and exhaust fans, and a Peltier element that is thermally connected to both sinks. It can be set as the cage structure with the Peltier cooling unit which does not inhibit the visibility of the state of a pet.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
Reference numeral 1 shown in the figure denotes a living room accommodation space in which oxygen concentration, temperature and humidity for controlling recovery from a dangerous state after surgery can be controlled when intensive care needs to be performed after surgery of a small animal. Is a rectangular box-shaped cage that constitutes an ICU (intensive care unit).

  As shown in FIG. 1, an opening 3 having a lattice-shaped transparent door 2 that can be opened and closed via a hinge 2 a provided at a side end is formed on the front surface of the cage 1. The transparent door 2 is formed in such a size that a transparent acrylic plate covers the entire opening 3 of the cage 1, and the opening end face of the gauge 1 is provided with a hermetic seal. A cushion material 3a is attached. Further, above the transparent door 2, four vent holes 2b are opened so as to communicate with four suction / exhaust fans described later. Further, a guide mechanism 6 is formed on the upper side in the cage 1 so that the casing 5 in which the Peltier cooling unit 4 is arranged can be inserted and removed freely.

As shown in FIG. 3, the Peltier cooling unit 4 is surrounded on the outside by a rectangular frame 15 made of a heat insulating material. A flat Peltier element 11 is arranged in the rectangular frame 15 and a cooling fan is provided at the rear. 7. A cooling heat sink 8 connected to the heat absorption side of the Peltier element 11 between the cooling fan 7 and the Peltier element 11, and the suction / exhaust fan 9 and the Peltier element, respectively. 11 is provided with a heat dissipation heat sink 10 connected to the exhaust heat side of the Peltier element 11.
An inclined drain guide (not shown) is provided immediately below the heat radiation heat sink 10 of the Peltier cooling unit 4 so that the drain liquid is blown out (evaporated) by the suction / exhaust fan 9.

  And as shown in FIG. 2, the casing 5 which accommodates this Peltier cooling unit 4 is formed in a rectangular box shape whose upper side is opened, and inside the four openings 5a formed in the front part of the casing 5, Suction / exhaust fans 9 are arranged opposite to each other, and cooling fans 7 are arranged opposite to each other inside three openings 5 b formed in the rear part of the casing 5.

  Further, on the left and right sides of the casing 5, at locations corresponding to the cooling fan 7 and the Peltier element 11, there are provided heat-dissipating exhaust ports 5 c having rectangular openings corresponding to the exhaust ports 4 a of the Peltier cooling unit 4. The left and right sides of the Peltier cooling unit 4 are provided with locking projections 12 that contact and lock the inner wall of the casing 5 so as to form a surplus space inside the heat radiating exhaust port 5c.

  The suction / exhaust fan 9 functions as an intake air for the middle two and as an exhaust air for the outer two, and heat exchange is performed by the heat sink 10 in the Peltier cooling unit 4 for the outside air sucked from the front of the casing 5. A circulation path is formed so as to discharge again from the front.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the guide mechanism 6 for taking in and out the casing 5 includes hook-shaped hanging portions 13 formed at both ends of the casing 5 at the openings 3 at both ends of the inner wall inside the cage 1. The casing 5 itself is hung on the upper side inside the cage 1 by being slid and inserted into the U-shaped rail-shaped hanging guide portion 14 formed toward the opening 3 side.

By the way, instead of arranging the thin casing 5 horizontally on the upper side inside the cage 1, the thin casing 5 may be arranged vertically on either the left or right side or the left or right side inside the cage 1. Further, on the upper surface of the cage 1, a heater for radiating heat to the inside of the cage, an air purifier for blowing cleaned air, a drive mechanism 16 of the Peltier cooling unit 4, and the like, and a cover 17 covering the whole are installed. Is provided.
Needless to say, the drive mechanism 16 and the like may be installed on other than the upper surface of the cage 1.

Next, an example of use and operation of the best mode configured as described above will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 2, the Peltier cooling unit 4 is mounted in the casing 5, the door 2 of the cage 1 is opened, and the hanging portions 13 at both ends of the casing 5 are connected to the hanging guide portions 14 inside the cage 1. The casing 5 itself is suspended and arranged on the upper side inside the cage 1.

  After accommodating the small animal which needs intensive care in the casing 5, the transparent door 2 is closed in a sealed state, and the power supply (not shown) is turned on to drive the Peltier cooling unit 4. At this time, the intake / exhaust fan 9 functions as an intake air for the middle two and as an exhaust air for the outer two, and the outside air sucked from the front part of the casing 5 is radiated from the heat sink 10 in the Peltier cooling unit 4. After exchanging heat with, discharge again from the front. In this way, the temperature and humidity inside the cage 1 are adjusted.

  Also, the drain liquid in an inclined drain guide (not shown) directly under the heat sink 10 of the Peltier cooling unit 4 is blown to the outside by the suction / exhaust fan 9 (evaporation), thereby reducing the heat exchange performance by the drain liquid. The inconvenience of doing is solved.

It is a perspective view of the cage open state which attached the ICU unit in the best form for implementing this invention through the casing. It is a partially notched perspective view which shows the state which mounts an ICU unit in the casing similarly set in a cage. It is a cross-sectional view which shows the state which similarly mounted | wore the casing with the ICU unit.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cage 2 Door 2a Hinge part 2b Ventilation hole 3 Opening part 4 Peltier cooling unit 4a Exhaust port 5 Casing 5a, 5b Opening part 5c Heat exhaust port 6 Guide mechanism 7 Cooling fan 8 Cooling heat sink 9 Intake / exhaust fan 10 Heat sink 11 Peltier element 12 Locking protrusion 13 Hanging part 14 Hanging guide part 15 Rectangular frame 16 Drive mechanism 17 Cover

Claims (4)

  A Peltier cooling unit is placed inside the cage, which has a transparent door at the front opening, on both sides or one side of the cage, and a cooling fan and intake / exhaust fans are placed on both sides of the Peltier cooling unit. An ICU unit comprising a thin casing arranged so as to communicate with the inside and the outside, and is detachably fitted by a guide mechanism.   The guide mechanism is configured so that the casing itself is hung by inserting the hanging portions formed at both ends of the casing into the hanging guide portions formed at both ends of the inner wall of the cage toward the opening from the opening side. The ICU unit according to claim 1.   The ICU unit according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a locking projection on the side of the Peltier cooling unit that abuts against the inner wall of the casing so as to form a space inside a heat radiating exhaust port provided in the casing.   The Peltier cooling unit includes a cooling heat sink that communicates with a rear cooling fan, a heat radiation heat sink that communicates with a front suction / exhaust fan, and a Peltier element that is thermally connected to both sinks. The ICU unit according to any one of the above.

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