Contact Points
Primary Contract Specialist
Secondary Contracting Officer
- Background Information and Objective: The Section of Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, Laboratory of Neuropsychology investigates primate higher brain functions such as memory, reward processing and decision making. We currently are running a number of parallel experiments in multiple laboratory booths, including social experiments conducted in two animals present in the same booth. These experiments are conducted with large nonhuman primates (macaques), some in excess of 10 kg weight. To safely enclose the animal during experiment, to transport it from the housing area to the experiment area, and to provide attachment points necessary for training equipment, a “monkey chair” is needed.
To hava sufficient capacity to properly manage and keep the animal training and testing on schedule, purchasing new chairs is needed. The need is exacerbated by running social experiments (requiring two chairs per booth at the same time, vs. one in many other experiments) and by older chairs gradually wearing out. This purchase will provide this essential capacity. his experimental work will advance scientific understanding of primate behavior relevant to social behaviors, learning and decision making.
Detailed characteristics:
General: Fully enclosed front-loading vertical chair for adult rhesus monkeys up to 16 kg.
Must be compatible with chairs currently used in the lab in (1) neck plate interchangeability, (2) size and compatibility with rigs and attachment, and (3) operation (for safety and reduced need of additional training of staff and animals).
Material: very rigid for stability for eye-tracking and electrophysiology. Able to withstand daily machine washing. Current chairs use aluminum with steel elements.
Chair size: width 11”, length 10”, total height approx. 25.5”, including the feces tray compartment at the bottom.
Construction: solid side panels with front and back hinged door.
Front door: single door opening out to the left (animal’s POV), no structure at the top that could impede egress, two latches. The door should extend vertically from the top of the feces compartment all the way to below the neckplate. The door should include a top-left and a top-right openings to allow reaching, covered with secure plates flush with the rest of the door when the feature is not in use.
Back door: dual, bottom ~4,5” with one latch, top ~11” with two latches. Both open to the left. The top and bottom of the rear (near the feces tray) may consist of permanent structures/plates.
Alignment pins: on the front, at the very bottom: two alignment pins extending forward, 6” apart (3” on each side of the chair’s centerline), 1” from the bottom. approx.1.5” long, 1/4” diameter.
Clamping plates: on both sides of the chair, level with the chair bottom, a ~2”-wide plate should run on each side along the entire length of the chair, to allow clamping the chair to the trolley base or to a rig using lever/toggle clamps.
Feces tray: removable from the rear with all doors closed.
Inner floor: with openings for the feces to fall through. Current chairs use polycarbonate(?) or similar material with large circular holes. This is preferred for consistency between chairs of the part that animals sit on. The height/level of the inner floor must be adjustable in 1-inch or smaller steps. Current design involves dual slotted rails on the inner surfaces of each side panel plus locking screws. Though this precludes adjusting while the animal is inside and with door closed, we think that robustness outweighs friction-based solutions adjustable from the inside (e.g. knob screws through vertical slots). The floor level range should be at least 5” to 15” from the bottom of the chair.
Neckplate: must be compatible/exchangeable with currently used neckplates, to allow different collar sizes. Hinged with two screws in the back (approx. 7.5” from the back); these screws are inserted from the outside, go through holes in the side panels and into the neck plate. The front of the neckplate is friction-held in position by knob screws on both sides. The hinge screws and the arc-shape cutouts for the knob screws allow the front to be dropped by ~1.5” from the horizontal position. The exact specs of the screws and dimensions will be provided as needed.
The neckplate must be of the rail type, with animal collar sliding into the neckplate, and a swinging/rotating plate securing the collar in place. The swinging plate must open to the right (from the animal’s POV), when closed it must be securable on the left by a push-button quick-release pin going through the neckplate and the swing plate. The pin must be also attached to the chair structure with a chain or similar attachment.
The neckplate opening should fit standard Primate Product aluminum collars: blue (4” W, 6” L), gold (5” W, 7” L), red (5” W, 7.5” L). A solution allowing using more than one collar size in one neckplate is preferred, as long as it is durable and easy to operate.
Trolley/base: with 4 durable caster wheels in the corners, each with a foot-operated locking mechanism, able to withstand daily machine washing. Height between 5 and 9”, flat top plate with two lever/toggle clamps for securing the chair. Top plate dimensions: length 14-16.5”, width 16-20”.
Headfixing hardware: a 10.5”-long, 1”-dia. horizontal steel bar running left-right located ~10-11” above the top of the chair side, and 0-4” (adjustable) from the back of the chair. Rigid and stable. Supported from one side only (preferably right), to allow sliding hardware onto the bar from the left side.
Current design involves vertical aluminum plates (“wings”) attached to the side of each chair side and extending upwards and backwards. They are connected by two 1.5” 80-20 profiles running left to right between the wings, one profile immediately in front of the other. The front of the front profile is 1.5” behind the back of the chair, the back of the back profile is 4.5” behind the chair. The profiles provide the base for a single clamp structure holding a 6”-long 1”-dia bar running back to front. Another clamp attaches the 10.5” left-right bar to the 6” front-back bar.
Total weight: (with trolley and headfixing hardware) should be 30-40 kg.
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- Salient characteristics:
- Duplicate of chairs existing in the lab, including part exchangeability, especially neckplate
- Rigid design resistant to frequent automated washing (ideally aluminum)
- Fully enclosed
- Safe neck plate design with a swing-plate opening and collar slot
- Neck plate angle variable for animal loading vs. training
- Neck plate usable with more than one collar size (per chair: two neckplates, three standard collar sizes
- Horizontal, right-side-supported bar for headfixing attachment
- Exact dimensions to fit the structures the chair will be attached/inserted into, including alignment pins in the front
- (more detailed characteristics attached at the end of this document)
2 chairs with 2 neckplates per chair (4 neckplates total)
Interested parties may identify in writing their interest and capability in response to this requirement. Responses to this notice shall contain sufficient information to establish the interested parties’ bona-fide capabilities for fulfilling the requirement and include: unit price, list price, shipping and handling costs, the delivery period after contract award, the prompt payment discount terms, the F.O.B. Point (Destination or Origin), the Dun & Bradstreet Number (DUNS), the Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and the certification of business size. All offerors must have an active registration in the System for Award Management (SAM) www.sam.gov.
All responses must be received by closing date and must reference the announcement. Responses may be submitted electronically to the attention of the contract specialist. Fax responses will not be accepted.
All responsible sources may submit a bid, proposal, or quotation which shall be considered by the agency.