Collapsible containment system
An animal containment system includes a frame and a set of animal beds (e.g., plastic bins or similar) that are held in the frame for growing, mating, demonstration, sales, etc. When the animals are no longer present, the frame collapses, either horizontally or vertically, to reduce the amount of space consumed by the frame, as it is often possible to stack the animal beds, one inside each other, thereby reducing storage and transportation space requirements.
1. A collapsible containment system for animals, the collapsible containment system comprising:
a collapsible frame that is configured to transition and lock into a deployed configuration and is configured to hold a plurality of animal beds and is configured to release and transition into a collapsed configuration after the plurality of animal beds are removed;
the collapsible frame comprises an upper horizontal frame and a lower horizontal frame;
a plurality of hinges, each hinge has a first leg and a second leg, the first leg is rotatably connected to the second leg by a pivot, a first end of the first leg rotatably interfaced to the upper horizontal frame by a second pivot and a first end of the second leg rotatably interfaced to the lower horizontal frame by a third pivot, a second end of the first leg having a first slider pin, the first slider pin movable in a first slot in the lower horizontal frame, a second end of the second leg having a second slider pin, the second slider pin movable in a second slot in the upper horizontal frame whereas, in the deployed configuration the first slider pin is at a first end of the first slot and the second slider pin is at the first end of the second slot and whereas in the collapsed configuration, the first slider pin is at a second, distal end of the first slot and the second slider pin is at the second, distal end of the second slot;
a spring loaded locking mechanism that has a catch that is spring loaded and the catch is configured to deflect as the first slider pin approaches the first end of the first slot and the catch is configured to extend after the first slider pin is at the first end of the first slot, thereby the catch is configured to lock the first slider pin at the first end of the first slot in the deployed configuration;
a pull lever, the pull lever configured to deflect the catch and thereby release the first slider pin from the first end of the first slot, thereby the pull lever is configured to release the first slider pin so that the first slider pin is able to move towards the second end of the first slot for the collapsed configuration; and
when in the deployed configuration, each of the plurality of animal beds is insertable between the lower horizontal frame and the upper horizontal frame;
wherein when in use, each of the plurality of animal beds is a plastic bin.
2. The collapsible containment system of claim 1 , wherein the collapsible containment system is configured to collapse vertically.
3. The collapsible containment system of claim 1 , further comprising a gas discharge tube between the upper horizontal frame and the lower horizontal frame.