Unit for providing environmental control of animals

Claim 1

An isolation unit for specifically defined animals adapted to permit ready access to said animals while maintaining the animals free from environmental contamination and from crosscontamination from adjacent confined animals comprising: a. a housing unit having an air inlet associated with the base portion of the unit, a longitudinally extending air plenum centrally disposed within the unit and connected at one end to said inlet and a pair of open animal confining stations spaced at opposite sides of the unit and communicating with the other end of said air plenum; b. airflow generating and filtering means connected to said unit for providing a contaminant-free flow of air through said plenum from the inside of the unit and exhausting outwardly of said unit at each of said animal confining stations; c. means spaced within said plenum for providing a uniform airflow in said plenum; d. means connected to the unit at each of said animal confining stations for receiving said uniform airflow and for generating a laminar flow passing from the inside to the outside of the unit; and e. baffle means spaced parallel to said laminar flow connected to said unit at each of said animal confining stations for preventing cross-contamination between confined animals.