JP2019184077A - Humidifier and artificial respiration system - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a humidifier capable of achieving downsizing, weight saving and low height, and enabling sufficient humidification without heating the entire stored water, and an artificial respiration system.SOLUTION: A humidifier 50 and an artificial respiration system comprising the humidifier 50 are provided. The humidifier comprises a holding part 170 holding liquid water, a contact part 160 contacting with water, and a heating unit configured to heat water, wherein the contact part does not allow liquid water to pass through, and allows water vapor to pass through, wherein the contact part 160 has a metal part 162 made of metal, and water 190 is heated and evaporated by eddy current generated by electromagnetic induction from a coil 180 disposed in the vicinity of the metal part 162.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a humidifier, and more particularly to a humidifier that is connected to a breathing circuit of a ventilator and adds moisture to an air supply gas.

  Automatic ventilators designed to connect to the user's airway to regulate or assist ventilation are widely used in the medical setting and are commonly referred to as ventilators and ventilator systems. The artificial respiration system also includes a respiratory assistance device used for CPAP therapy (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), which is a treatment for sleep apnea syndrome.

  Continued delivery of dry gas to the airways can cause discomfort to the user and, in some cases, can cause damage to the airways. Therefore, a humidifier that adds moisture to the air supply gas is connected to the artificial respiration system.

  Conventionally, many humidifiers used in artificial respiration systems have a method of heating and evaporating the entire water stored in a water storage tank with a heater plate (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a humidifier 300 that employs a heating evaporation method. The humidifier 300 sends the gas to a housing 360, an air supply gas inlet 340 connected to a blower (blower) (not shown) for supplying gas, and a breathing circuit (not shown) connected to a user. An air supply gas outlet 350 is provided. The housing 360 has a heat conducting portion 370 at the bottom and stores water 390. The heater unit 380 has, for example, an electric resistor (not shown) and is heated by flowing a current from a power source (not shown), and heats and evaporates the water 390 through the heat conducting unit 370. In the humidification chamber 325, the insufflation gas flowing in from the insufflation gas inlet 340 contains water vapor evaporated from the surface of the water 390. After being humidified, the insufflation gas is sent from the insufflation gas outlet 350 to the user's airway through the breathing circuit. .

Special table 2009-504277 gazette

  However, with the technique described in Patent Document 1, a sufficient amount of water vapor cannot be generated unless the temperature of the water in the entire water storage tank is increased. For this reason, energy consumption is large, and a large amount of hot water must be stored, so that downsizing is difficult. Moreover, since it is necessary to store a lot of hot water, there is a great risk that the hot water leaks when the humidifier is turned down and the user or the like gets burned. In the future, artificial respiration systems and respiratory aids are expected to be used more often in home medical care, which is inconvenient for families other than medical workers.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and can be reduced in size, weight, and height, and can be sufficiently humidified without heating the entire stored water, and The purpose is to provide an artificial respiration system.

  In the present invention, steam is efficiently generated by bringing a heated member into contact with the surface of the water to be held and heating.

  (1) The present invention includes a holding unit that holds liquid water, a contact unit that comes into contact with the water, and a heating unit that heats the water, and the contact unit supplies the water in the liquid state. There is provided a humidifying device characterized in that it does not pass through and water vapor can pass through.

  According to the invention described in (1) above, the humidifier does not allow liquid water to pass through and has a contact portion that can pass water vapor, so that it is difficult to leak water held by the holding portion to the outside. There is an excellent effect of enabling a mechanism capable of humidification.

  (2) The present invention provides the humidifier according to (1), wherein the contact portion has a plurality of through holes through which the water vapor can pass.

  According to the invention as described in said (2), there exists an effect that the humidification apparatus which can humidify can be implement | achieved because a contact part has a some through-hole which can permeate | transmit water vapor | steam.

  (3) The present invention provides the humidifying device according to (1) or (2) above, wherein the contact portion is at least a part of the holding portion.

  According to the invention described in (3) above, since a part of the holding part that holds the water to be evaporated by heating is a contact part, water vapor generated from the holding part is added to the air supply gas via the contact part. There is an excellent effect of being able to.

  (4) The present invention provides the humidifying device according to (3), wherein the contact portion is disposed in a vertically upward place in the holding portion.

  Warmed water tends to lighten and move upward in the vertical direction. According to the invention described in (4) above, since warm water capable of generating water vapor is present in the vicinity of the contact portion, there is an excellent effect that the air supply gas can be efficiently humidified. .

  (5) The present invention provides the humidifying device according to any one of (1) to (4) above, wherein the contact portion is a thin plate.

  According to the invention described in the above (5), since the contact portion through which water vapor passes is a thin plate, there is an excellent effect that it is possible to realize a small humidifier that can be reduced in height and can be easily used in home medical care.

  (6) The present invention provides the humidifying device according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the contact portion has a net structure.

  According to the invention described in (6) above, since the contact portion that allows water vapor to pass has a network structure, it is possible to realize a small and light humidifier that can be reduced in weight and height and can be easily used in home medical care. Has an effect.

  (7) The present invention provides the humidifying device according to (5) or (6) above, wherein at least a part of the surface of the contact portion is water repellent.

  According to the invention as described in (7) above, since at least a part of the surface of the contact portion has water repellency, the water held in the holding portion is less likely to leak to the outside and has an excellent effect of increasing safety. Play.

  (8) In the present invention, the contact part has a metal part made of a metal, and the heating part heats the water by heating the metal part. The humidification apparatus in any one of said (7) is provided.

  According to the invention described in (8) above, since the metal part of the contact part that contacts the water held by the holding part is heated, it is possible to heat the water in the vicinity of the contact part through which water vapor passes. And has an excellent effect of enabling humidification with high energy efficiency.

  In the present specification, the term “metal” as used as a material includes, for example, a case where ceramics mainly composed of iron oxide or the like are used as a material.

  (9) The present invention provides the humidifier according to (8), wherein the heating unit includes a coil for power transmission that generates an eddy current in the metal part by electromagnetic induction.

  According to the invention described in (9) above, since the heating unit includes the metal part heated by the eddy current and the coil that transmits power to the metal part, the heating part can be arranged at a free position, and for heating. There is an excellent effect that energy efficiency is also good.

  (10) The present invention provides the humidifying device according to (9), wherein a distance between the metal part and the power transmission coil is 1 cm or less.

  In the electromagnetic induction, when the distance between the power transmission side and the power reception side increases, the energy transfer efficiency due to the change of the magnetic field decreases in inverse proportion to the cube of the distance. According to the invention described in (10) above, since the distance between the power transmission side coil and the power receiving side metal part is as small as 1 cm or less, there is an excellent effect that efficient power transmission is possible.

  (11) The humidifying apparatus according to (8), wherein the heating unit includes a coil for power transmission, and the metal unit is heated by hysteresis loss.

  According to the invention described in (11) above, since the metal part can be heated by the hysteresis loss generated in the direction along the magnetic field lines, the metal part does not need to be a flat surface, and power is transmitted through the magnetic pipe. It is arranged along the magnetic field lines created by the coil for use, and an extremely excellent effect is obtained that the humidifying device can be configured only by sucking water by capillary action.

  (12) The present invention provides an artificial respiration system including the humidifying device according to any one of (1) to (11).

  According to the invention described in (12) above, the humidifier does not allow liquid water to pass through and has a contact portion that can pass water vapor, so that the water held by the holding portion is hardly leaked to the outside, An excellent effect is achieved in that an artificial respiration system capable of efficiently humidifying the air supply gas can be realized.

  According to the humidifying device and the artificial respiration system according to claims 1 to 12 of the present invention, there is an excellent effect that a humidifier and an artificial respiration system that are small and light, safe and energy efficient can be realized.

It is explanatory drawing of the artificial respiration system which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the humidification apparatus in the artificial respiration system which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. (A) It is sectional drawing of the holding | maintenance part in a humidifier, a contact part, and a coil. (B) It is explanatory drawing explaining the heating principle of a heating part. (A) It is sectional drawing of the holding | maintenance part in the humidification apparatus which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention, a contact part, and a coil. (B) It is sectional drawing of the holding | maintenance part and contact part in the humidification apparatus which concerns on 3rd embodiment of this invention. (C) It is explanatory drawing of the humidification apparatus which concerns on 4th embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the humidification apparatus which concerns on the modified example of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the conventional humidifier.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  1 to 4 are examples of embodiments for carrying out the invention, and in the drawings, the same reference numerals denote the same components. In addition, a part of the configuration is omitted as appropriate in each drawing to simplify the drawing. The size, shape, thickness, etc. of the members are exaggerated as appropriate.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an artificial respiration system 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The artificial respiration system 1 includes a main body 5 having a control unit 10 and the like for overall control, a humidifying device 50 for adding moisture to the air supply gas, a breathing circuit 70 for guiding the air supply gas to the user 100, and use A mask 110 for supplying gas to the person 100 is provided. The main body 5 includes a control unit 10 that controls the flow rate and temperature of the supplied gas, a flow rate sensor 20 that measures the flow rate of the supplied gas, and a blower 40 that draws the supplied gas from the inlet 30 and sends it to the breathing circuit 70. Have Since members other than the humidifier 50 have the same configuration as the conventional artificial respiration system, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The control unit 10 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and executes various controls. The CPU is a so-called central processing unit, and executes various programs to realize various functions. The RAM is used as a work area and a storage area of the CPU, and the ROM stores an operating system and programs executed by the CPU.

  In FIG. 2, explanatory drawing of the humidification apparatus 50 in the artificial respiration system 1 which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention is shown. The humidifying device 50 includes a holding unit 170 that holds water 190 in a liquid state, a contact unit 160 that contacts the water 190, and a heating unit 155 that heats water (see FIG. 3A described later). The contact part 160 does not allow liquid water to pass through, and allows water vapor to pass through. Further, the contact portion 160 is at least a part of the holding portion 170, and the contact portion 160 is disposed in a vertically upward place in the holding portion 170.

  The contact portion 160 is a thin plate-shaped metal portion 162 having a plurality of through holes through which water vapor can pass. For example, stainless steel is desirable as the material. The fine through holes may be formed by etching, or so-called punching metal. The diameter of the fine through hole is desirably 0.3 mm or less. Further, at least a part of the surface of the contact portion 160 has water repellency and is preferably coated with, for example, a fluorine-based synthetic resin. With such a configuration, the water in the holding part 170 is unlikely to leak out from the contact part 160 through the fine through hole.

  The holding part 170 is preferably made of synthetic resin. Moreover, it is preferable that the holding | maintenance part 170 is maintained in a full water state. The holding part 170 is provided with a water supply port 130 for supplying water.

  It is desirable that the water 190 is always in direct contact with the contact portion 160.

  A power transmission coil 180 is disposed at a position facing the contact portion 160 below the holding portion 170. The coil 180 is connected to an inverter (not shown) by a conducting wire (not shown), and an alternating current of 20 to 90 kilohertz, for example, is applied.

  Next, the operation of the humidifier 50 will be described.

  The insufflation gas flowing in from the insufflation gas inlet 140 is humidified including water vapor coming out of the contact portion 160 in the humidification chamber 125, and is guided from the insufflation gas outlet 150 to the breathing circuit 70 (see FIG. 1).

  FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view of the holding unit 170, the contact unit 160, and the coil 180 in the humidifying device 50. The contact part 160 is a metal part 162, and an eddy current is generated in the metal part 162 due to electromagnetic induction caused by a change in the magnetic field from the coil 180, and the metal part 162 itself is heated by the electric resistance of the metal part 162. That is, the heating unit 155 includes a metal unit 162, a coil 180, a power source that applies an alternating current to the coil 180, and an inverter (not shown).

  In other words, the heating unit 155 of the humidifying device 50 heats the water 190 held in the holding unit 170 and in contact with 162 by using the principle of induction heating.

  The distance between the metal portion 162 and the power transmission coil 180 is preferably 1 cm or less.

  FIG. 3B is an explanatory diagram illustrating the heating principle of the heating unit 155. In this case, the metal part 162 has a net shape. An alternating current is applied to the coil 180 from the inverter, and the magnetic field lines M are generated perpendicular to the surface of the coil. The magnitude of the magnetic field fluctuates due to the fluctuation of the alternating current, and an eddy current E is generated in the metal part 162. And the metal part 162 itself is heated by the electrical resistance which the metal part 162 has.

  FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of the holding unit 170, the contact unit 160, and the coil 180 in the humidifying device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the contact part 160 includes a net-like metal part 162 and a water leakage prevention part 164. The material of the water leakage prevention unit 164 is, for example, Japanese paper or silicone sponge, and is preferably exchangeable when it gets dirty. The metal part 162 induction-heated by the coil 180 heats and evaporates the water 190 and humidifies the air supply gas via the water leakage prevention part 164. The water leakage prevention unit 164 may be a cloth such as Gore-Tex (registered trademark) that allows water vapor to pass therethrough and does not pass liquid water, and the metal part 162 is a metal film deposited on the cloth. There may be.

  FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional view of the holding portion 170 and the contact portion 160 in the humidifying device according to the third embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the contact part 160 includes a porous part 166 and a heater part 168 having a property of allowing water vapor to pass therethrough. The heater unit 168 is, for example, an electrical resistor, and heats the water 190 by applying a current from a power source (not shown). The generated water vapor humidifies the air supply gas through the porous portion 166.

  In any of the embodiments, for example, a detector that performs temperature measurement in the vicinity of the contact portion 160 is disposed, and when the temperature rises when the water runs out, the risk prevention control that stops the current application to the coil 180 by the control portion 10. It is preferable to carry out.

  FIG. 4C is an explanatory diagram of the humidifying device 50 according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of the humidifier 50 itself is the same as that in FIG. 2, but the water supply to the humidifier 50 is performed by the water supply bag 200 through the conduit 210. At this time, it is preferable that the water supply bag 200 is stretchable, and pressure is always applied to the inside of the holding portion 170 so that water is in direct contact with the contact portion 160.

  According to the humidifying device 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the humidifying device 50 has the contact portion 160 that does not allow the liquid water 190 to pass therethrough and allows water vapor to pass therethrough. There is an excellent effect of enabling a mechanism that is difficult to leak 190 to the outside and can be humidified.

  According to the humidifying device 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the contact portion 160 has a plurality of through holes through which water vapor can pass, so that the water 190 held by the holding portion 170 is hardly leaked to the outside and can be humidified. There is an excellent effect that the humidifier 50 can be realized.

  According to the humidifier 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, a part of the holding unit 170 that holds the water to be heated and evaporated is the contact unit 160, so that water vapor generated from the holding unit 170 is passed through the contact unit 160. There is an excellent effect that it can be added to the air supply gas.

  Warmed water tends to lighten and move upward in the vertical direction. According to the humidifier 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, since warm water that can generate water vapor exists in the vicinity of the contact portion 160, it is possible to efficiently humidify the air supply gas. There is an effect.

  According to the humidifier 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the contact portion 160 that allows water vapor to pass is a thin plate, it is possible to realize a small humidifier 50 that can be reduced in height and can be easily used in home medical care. Play.

  According to the humidifying device 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the contact portion 160 that allows water vapor to pass has a network structure, the small and lightweight humidifying device 50 that can be reduced in weight and height and can be easily used in home medical care is provided. There is an excellent effect that it can be realized.

  According to the humidifier 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, since at least a part of the surface of the contact portion 160 has water repellency, the water 190 held by the holding portion 170 is less likely to leak to the outside, and safety is increased. There is an excellent effect.

  According to the humidifier 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the metal part 162 included in the contact part 160 that contacts the water 190 held by the holding part 170 is heated, so that the vicinity of the contact part 160 that allows water vapor to pass therethrough. It is possible to heat water, and there is an excellent effect that humidification can be performed with energy efficiency.

  According to the humidifying device 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the heating unit 155 includes the metal unit 162 that is heated by the eddy current and the coil 180 that transmits power to the metal unit 162, and thus the heating unit 155 is disposed at a free position. And has an excellent effect that the energy efficiency for heating is also good.

  In the electromagnetic induction, when the distance between the power transmission side and the power reception side increases, the energy transfer efficiency due to the change of the magnetic field decreases in inverse proportion to the cube of the distance. According to the humidifier 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the distance between the power transmission side coil 180 and the power receiving side metal part 162 is as small as 1 cm or less, there is an excellent effect that efficient power transmission is possible.

  According to the artificial respiration system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the humidifying device 50 does not pass liquid water and has the contact part 160 that can pass water vapor, so that the water held by the holding part 170 is retained. There is an excellent effect that it is possible to realize the artificial respiration system 1 that is difficult to leak 170 to the outside and can efficiently humidify the air supply gas.

  In addition, the humidification apparatus and artificial respiration system of this invention are not limited to above-described embodiment, Of course, various changes can be added within the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

  For example, as a modified embodiment, the coil unit 180 may be provided not on the lower portion of the holding unit 170 but on the humidifying chamber 125 side. In addition, a mode in which the entire holding unit 170 is shaped like a bag that is the contact unit 160 is also conceivable. There may be a plurality of coils 180, and the holding unit 170 may have a folded shape such as a fold, and may be considered to be humidified when the air supply gas passes between them. In this case, when the contact part 160 has a large surface area, there exists an effect that efficient humidification is attained.

  As another modified embodiment, there is a method using heating due to hysteresis loss of a magnetic material. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a humidifier 50 according to a modified embodiment of the present invention. The humidifier 50 includes an AC power source 195, a power transmission coil 180, a holding part 170 that holds water 190, and a metal part 162 that is a small-diameter magnetic pipe that sucks up the water 190 from the holding part 170. It is preferable that the axis of the metal portion 162 substantially coincides with the axial direction of the coil. The metal part 162 is heated by generating a hysteresis loss (hysteresis loss) in the axial direction in accordance with the change in the direction of the magnetic lines of force generated by the coil 180, and the water 190 in the metal part 162, which is a magnetic pipe, is steamed. 197. The generated water vapor 197 is discharged from the end of the metal part 162 that is a pipe opposite to the holding part 170, and humidifies the air supply gas. It is desirable that the metal part 162 has an inner diameter enough to suck up the water 190 by capillary action. The metal part 162 is preferably made of a ferromagnetic material having a large residual magnetic flux and a small coercive force, such as ferrite.

  According to the humidifying device 50 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the metal part 162 can be heated by the hysteresis loss that occurs in the direction along the magnetic field lines. The humidifying device 50 can be configured by simply arranging the pipe along the magnetic field lines generated by the power transmission coil 180 and sucking up the water by capillary action.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Artificial respiration system 5 Main body 10 Control part 20 Flow sensor 30 Inlet 40 Blower 50 Humidifier 70 Breathing circuit 100 User 110 Mask 120 Case 125 Humidifying chamber 130 Water supply port 140 Insufflation gas inlet 150 Insufflation gas outlet 155 Heating Unit 160 contact unit 162 metal unit 164 water leakage prevention unit 166 porous unit 168 heater unit 170 holding unit 180 coil 190 water 195 AC power source 197 steam 200 water supply bag 210 conduit 300 humidifier 325 humid chamber 340 air supply gas inlet 350 Gas gas outlet 360 Case 370 Heat conduction part 380 Heater part 390 Water M Magnetic field line M
E Eddy current E

Claims (12)

A holding section for holding liquid water;
A contact portion in contact with the water;
A heating unit for heating the water;
With
The humidifying device, wherein the contact portion does not allow the water in a liquid state to pass therethrough and allows water vapor to pass therethrough.   The humidifying device according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion has a plurality of through holes through which the water vapor can pass.   The humidifying device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the contact portion is at least a part of the holding portion.   The humidifying device according to claim 3, wherein the contact portion is disposed in a vertically upward position in the holding portion.   The humidifying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the contact portion is a thin plate.   The humidifying device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the contact portion has a net structure.   The humidifying device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein at least a part of the surface of the contact portion is water repellent.   The said contact part has a metal part which uses a metal as a raw material, The said heating part heats the said water by heating the said metal part, The any one of Claims 1-7 characterized by the above-mentioned. The humidifier according to one item.   The humidifying device according to claim 8, wherein the heating unit includes a power transmission coil that generates eddy current in the metal part by electromagnetic induction.   The humidifying device according to claim 9, wherein a distance between the metal part and the power transmission coil is 1 cm or less.   The humidifier according to claim 8, wherein the heating unit includes a power transmission coil, and the metal unit is heated by hysteresis loss.   The artificial respiration system provided with the humidification apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-11.

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