JP2854570B2 - Gas humidifier - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas humidifier for supplying a gas having a higher oxygen concentration than air to a patient in an appropriately humidified state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Patients of the respiratory system are provided with a therapy for providing oxygen. For example, oxygen generated from an oxygen cylinder or oxygen condensed by an oxygen concentrator made of an adsorbent such as molecular sieve is supplied to the patient. It is supplied to the patient using a nasal cannula, mask and the like.

[0003] The oxygen supplied from the oxygen concentrator hardly contains moisture. Therefore, a humidifier is provided in the middle of the oxygen supply tube to supply humidified oxygen in order to prevent the inside of the nostrils from drying when supplying oxygen to the nostrils of the patient.

Here, a humidifier according to the first prior art will be described with reference to FIG. 2. Reference numeral 1 denotes a bottomed cylindrical humidifying bottle. The humidifying bottle 1 has an opening 1A on the upper side and a humidifying water 2 on the bottom. Is filled.

[0005] Reference numeral 3 denotes a lid for detachably covering the opening 1A of the humidifying bottle 1. The lid 3 is screwed to the opening 1A in an air-tight and liquid-tight manner. An inlet 4 through which oxygen supplied from an oxygen supply source flows is provided at a central portion of the lid 3, and an outlet 5 through which humidified oxygen flows out is provided at a side portion. I have.

In the humidifier according to the first prior art having such a configuration, when oxygen is supplied to the humidifying bottle 1 from the oxygen supply source via the inflow port 4 using a tube, the oxygen is supplied into the humidifying bottle 1. Is humidified and allowed to flow out of the outlet 5, and supplied to the patient's nostrils using a nasal cannula or the like provided at the tip of the tube.

However, according to the first prior art,
Oxygen flowing into the humidifying bottle 1 from the inflow port 4 is humidified water 2
Since it does not pass through, there is no feeling of swelling due to bubbling (generation of bubbles), and a sense of security that oxygen is being inhaled cannot be obtained.

Therefore, as a device for causing bubbling by oxygen flowing into a humidifier, a device according to a second prior art shown in FIG. 3 is known.

In FIG. 3, the same components as those of the first prior art are denoted by the same reference numerals. Reference numeral 6 denotes a conduit, and the conduit 6 has an upper side connected to the inlet 4 of the lid 3. ,
The lower side serves as a discharge port 6 </ b> A toward the bottom of the humidifying bottle 1 and extends inside the humidifying water 2.

In the second prior art, since the conduit 6 is used, oxygen is discharged into the humidifying water 2 and then flows out from the outlet 5, so that the oxygen in the humidifying bottle 1 has a humidity of about 9%.
It is humidified up to 0% or more.

For this reason, in the humidifier according to the second prior art, oxygen humidified to nearly 90% flows through the tube, so that dew condensation occurs in the tube and water droplets are easily generated. This causes water droplets to enter the patient's nostrils, causing discomfort and is also unsanitary.

Therefore, in order to suppress the humidity of oxygen, the third
FIG. 4 shows a known prior art.

In FIG. 4, the same components as those of the second prior art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and 7 is a conduit 6.
The ventilation hole 7 is provided on the upper side of the
Is supplied to the outlet 5 without passing through the humidifying water 2.

In the third prior art, a part of oxygen is supplied from the conduit 6 through the humidifying water 2 and a part of oxygen is supplied from the ventilation hole 7 without passing through the humidifying water 2 to supply the oxygen to the patient. The humidity of oxygen is controlled to an appropriate value.

However, in the humidifier according to the third prior art, when the flow rate of oxygen flowing into the humidifying bottle 1 is different, the humidification ratio is different, and a phenomenon that bubbling does not occur occurs.

In view of the fact that the oxygen supplied to the patient is, for example, in the range of 0.25 to 3.00 l / min, the diameter of the vent hole 7 is 1.00, 0.90, 0.8.
When six types of conduits 6 different from 0, 0.60, 0.40, and 0.35 were prototyped and the oxygen flow rate was changed in the range of 0.25 to 3.00 l / min, the inside of the humidifying bottle 1 was changed. The oxygen humidity was measured. The results are as shown in Table 1 below. In Table 1, the oxygen humidity corresponding to the condition where no bubbling was observed is indicated by a thick line.

[0017]

[Table 1]

According to the results shown in Table 1, when the diameter of the vent hole 7 is as large as 1.00 mm, the oxygen flow rate becomes 2.
An appropriate oxygen humidity of about 70% can be obtained under the condition of a relatively large flow rate of 00 to 3.00 liter / min. However, when the oxygen flow rate becomes a small flow rate of 1.5 liter / min or less, all the oxygen flows out from the vent hole 7 and no bubbling occurs.

The vent 7 has a hole diameter of 0.9 to 0.4 m.
Under the condition of m, bubbling was observed even under the condition of a small oxygen flow rate as the pore diameter became small. However, when the oxygen flow rate is reduced to 0.25 l / min,
No bubbling was observed even when the diameter of the vent hole 7 was 0.4 mm.

Further, when the diameter of the vent hole 7 was reduced to 0.35 mm, bubbling could be observed under all conditions of the oxygen flow rate of 0.25 to 3.00 l / min. However, when the diameter of the ventilation hole 7 is reduced to 0.35 mm, the oxygen passing through the humidifying water 2 from the conduit 6 increases,
The humidity of oxygen increases to nearly 90%.

[0021]

By the way, in the humidifier according to the third prior art described above, even if the diameter of the vent hole 7 provided in the conduit 6 is set to any one of 1.00 mm to 0.35 mm, However, there is a problem that it is impossible to achieve both the appropriate adjustment of the oxygen humidity and the occurrence of bubbling over the range of the oxygen flow rate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to appropriately maintain gas humidity and generate bubbling irrespective of a change in gas flow rate. It is an object of the present invention to provide a gas humidifier.

[0023]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gas humidifier comprising a bottomed cylindrical body having an open top, and a humidifier having a bottom filled with humidification water. A bottle and a lid provided to detachably cover the opening of the humidifying bottle, a lid provided with a gas inlet and an outlet, and inserted from the inlet of the lid to the bottom of the humidifying bottle. A conduit provided, a vent provided on the upper side of the conduit, for guiding gas to the gas outlet without passing humidified water, and a gas provided on the conduit located downstream of the vent. An orifice for restricting gas flowing through the humidifying water when the supply flow rate is large and securing gas flowing through the humidifying water when the flow rate is small; and an orifice located in the humidification bottle downstream of the ventilation hole, A partition plate for partitioning the interior of the bottle into a high-humidity space and a low-humidity space; Provided, communicated with the high humidity space and low humidity space, high humidity gas from the high humidity space in low humidity space is constructed from a communicating hole that limits the outflow.

With this configuration, a part of the gas flowing from the inlet of the lid is discharged through the conduit to the humidifying water, and bubbling is generated from the high humidity space to the communication hole of the partition plate. Flows into a low-humidity space. Also,
Other gases are discharged from the ventilation holes into the low-humidity space without passing through the humidified water. Accordingly, in the low-humidity space, the low-humidity gas discharged from the ventilation hole and the high-humidity gas passing through the humidifying water merge, so that the gas has an appropriate humidity and flows out from the outlet.

When a large amount of gas is supplied, a large amount of gas tends to flow toward the humidifying water in the conduit. However, since the conduit has an orifice, the gas is discharged into the humidifying water. The flow rate of the gas to be supplied can be limited by the orifice, and an increase in gas humidity can be prevented.

On the other hand, when a small amount of gas is supplied, the gas flowing into the conduit from the inflow port can be secured as gas flowing through the humidified water by the orifice. be able to.

Further, since the inside of the humidifying bottle is divided into a high humidity space and a low humidity space by the partition plate, the humidification of the gas discharged from the vent can be restricted, and the humidity of the gas can be suppressed. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the diameters of the ventilation hole, the orifice, and the communication hole are set in a relation of communication hole>orifice> vent hole.

With this setting, when a small amount of gas flows into the conduit from the inflow port, the gas flows through the conduit and is discharged to the humidifying water because the orifice has a larger diameter than the vent hole. And bubbling occurs. The gas that has passed through the humidifying water flows out of the high-humidity space into the low-humidity space through the communication hole without resistance because the diameter of the communication hole is larger than that of the orifice. Therefore, even when a small flow rate of gas is supplied, bubbling can be generated, and the humidified gas can flow through the communication hole provided in the partition plate without resistance.

[0030]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an oxygen humidifier for humidifying oxygen will be described as an example of a gas humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention, and will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a humidifying bottle forming the outer shape of the humidifier, and the humidifying bottle 11 is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape having an opening 11A on the upper side. In the humidifying bottle 11,
The humidification water 12 is filled in the bottom.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a lid which is detachably provided in the opening 11A of the humidifying bottle 11. The lid 13 covers the opening 11A of the humidifying bottle 11 at its lower end, and is airtight with respect to the opening 11A. Screwed liquid tight.

At the center of the lid 13, an inlet 14 into which oxygen flows is projected, and the inlet 14 is connected to an oxygen concentrator such as an oxygen concentrator made of an adsorbent such as an oxygen cylinder or a molecular sieve. The source is connected via a tube (neither shown). Further, an outlet 15 through which humidified oxygen flows out protrudes from a side portion of the lid 13, and a nasal cannula, a mask (neither is shown) or the like is connected to the outlet 15 via a tube. You.

The conduit 16 has an upper side connected to the inlet 14 of the lid 13 and a lower side extending toward the bottom of the humidifying bottle 11 to serve as a discharge port 16A in the humidified water 12. I have.

Reference numeral 17 denotes a ventilation hole provided on the upper side of the conduit 16. The ventilation hole 17 is open to a low-humidity space 21 which will be described later. It is guided to the outlet 15 without passing through. The diameter of the vent hole 17 is smaller than the diameter of the communication hole 22 and the orifice 18, which will be described later.
It is set to about 50 mm.

Reference numeral 18 denotes an orifice provided in the conduit 16 at a position downstream of the vent hole 17.
Numeral 8 narrows the inside diameter of the passage of the conduit 16, and the hole diameter is smaller than the communication hole 22 and larger than the ventilation hole 17.
For example, it is set to about 0.6 to 0.8 mm. The orifice 18 restricts the amount of oxygen flowing into the humidifying water 12 when the supply amount of oxygen flowing from the inflow port 14 is at a large flow rate, and restricts the gas flowing through the humidification water 12 when the supply amount of oxygen is a small flow amount. Has a function to secure.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a partition plate provided on the side of the opening 11A of the humidifying bottle 11. The partition plate 19 is formed in a disk shape that is located downstream of the ventilation hole 17 and covers the opening 11A. 11 is a high humidity space 2 on the humidifying water 12 side (lower side).
0 and a low humidity space 21 on the side of the lid 13 (upper side). Thereby, high-humidity oxygen near the saturated water vapor pressure by the humidifying water 12 is trapped in the high-humidity space 20, and the increase in the humidity of oxygen discharged from the ventilation hole 17 to the low-humidity space 21 is limited.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a communication hole provided in the partition plate 19 and communicates between the high humidity space 20 and the low humidity space 21.
It restricts the natural outflow to one side. Also,
The diameter of the communication hole 22 is larger than that of the ventilation hole 17 and the orifice 18, and is such that oxygen discharged from the conduit 16 into the humidifying water 12 does not give resistance when flowing to the low humidity space 21 side, for example, 1 It is set to about 0.8 to 2.2 mm.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the diameters of the vent hole 17, the orifice 18, and the communication hole 22 are as follows.

[0040]

## EQU1 ## The relationship is set as follows: communication hole 22> orifice 18> vent hole 17.

The oxygen humidifier according to the present embodiment has the above-described configuration. Next, the flow of oxygen in the humidifier will be described.

First, when dry oxygen is supplied from an oxygen supply source via a tube, the oxygen flows into a conduit 16 from an inlet 14 provided in the lid 13. And
Part of the supplied oxygen is discharged from the ventilation hole 17 to the low-humidity space 21 without passing through the humidified water 12. Further, other oxygen flows through the conduit 16 and is discharged from the discharge port 16A to the humidified water 12, and the humidified water 12 generates bubbling. The oxygen that has passed through the humidifying water 12 is supplied to the high humidity space 20.
Then, it flows into the low humidity space 21 through the communication hole 22 of the partition plate 19.

Therefore, in the low humidity space 21, the ventilation holes 17
And the high-humidity oxygen that has passed through the humidifying water 12 merge with the dry oxygen discharged from the
% From the outlet 15 with an appropriate humidity of about%.
Thereby, the appropriately humidified oxygen can be supplied from the outlet 15 to the mask or the like via the tube, and the dew condensation in the tube can be prevented.

When a large amount of oxygen is supplied to the inlet 14, a large amount of oxygen tends to flow in the conduit 16 toward the humidifying water 12. However, in this embodiment, the conduit 16
Since the orifice 18 is provided inside the orifice 1,
The flow rate of oxygen discharged to the humidifying water 12 can be limited by the flow rate 8. Thereby, the ratio between the dry oxygen discharged from the ventilation holes 17 and the humidified oxygen passing through the humidified water 12 can be maintained at an appropriate level, and even when a large amount of oxygen is supplied, an increase in the oxygen humidity is prevented. be able to.

On the other hand, when a small flow rate of oxygen is supplied to the inflow port 14, most of the oxygen tends to flow out into the low humidity space 21 through the ventilation hole 17. However, in this embodiment,
Since the hole diameter of the orifice 18 is formed larger than the hole diameter of the ventilation hole 17, oxygen flowing into the conduit 16 from the inflow port 14 can flow to the orifice 18 having a small flow resistance. Accordingly, even when only a small flow rate of oxygen is supplied, oxygen flowing through the humidification water 12 can be secured by the orifice 18, and bubbling can be generated in the humidification water 12. Also, add oxygen to humidified water 1
2 can be humidified.

Further, since the inside of the humidifying bottle 11 is divided into a high humidity space 20 and a low humidity space 21 by the partition plate 19, the oxygen discharged from the ventilation holes 17 is reduced by the high humidity oxygen near the saturated steam pressure. It can prevent humidification,
The humidity of the oxygen flowing out of the outlet 15 can be appropriately suppressed.

Further, since the communication hole 22 formed in the partition plate 19 is formed to have a larger diameter than the ventilation hole 17 and the orifice 18, it is possible to flow oxygen from the high humidity space 20 to the low humidity space 21 without resistance. It is also possible to prevent the communication hole 22 from being clogged.

Here, the hole diameter of the ventilation hole 17 is 0.4 mm,
The hole diameter of the orifice 18 is set to 0.7 mm, and the hole diameter of the communication hole 22 is set to 2.0 mm, and the oxygen flow rate is changed in the range of 0.25 to 3.00 liter / min as in the third prior art. The oxygen humidity in the case of having been measured was measured. The results are as shown in Table 2 below, in which the oxygen humidity corresponding to the condition under which no bubbling was observed is indicated by a thick line.

[0049]

[Table 2]

According to the results shown in Table 2, bubbling could be generated in a wide range of oxygen flow rate of 0.50 to 3.00 l / min. However, no bubbling was observed only when the oxygen flow rate was as low as 0.25 liter / min.

Looking at the oxygen humidity, the oxygen could be humidified to an appropriate humidity of 40 to 70% in a wide range of oxygen flow rate of 0.50 to 3.00 l / min.

Thus, according to the present embodiment, when a large amount of oxygen is supplied, the amount of oxygen passing through the humidifying water 12 is limited by the orifice 18 provided in the conduit 16 to increase the oxygen humidity. In addition, when only a small flow rate of oxygen is supplied, oxygen flowing through the humidification water 12 can be secured by the orifice 18, and bubbling can be generated.

As a result, moderately humidified oxygen can be stably supplied to the patient while generating bubbling irrespective of a change in the flow rate. And the reliability of the oxygen humidifier can be improved.

Further, by dividing the inside of the humidifying bottle 11 into a high-humidity space 20 and a low-humidity space 21 by the partition plate 19, the humidity of the oxygen discharged from the ventilation holes 17 can be suppressed appropriately, and Of oxygen can be supplied to the patient.

In the above embodiment, the diameter of the vent hole 17 is 0.35 to 0.50 mm, the diameter of the orifice 18 is 0.6 to 0.8 mm, and the diameter of the communication hole 22 is 1.8 to 2.
Although the case of setting to 2 mm has been described as an example, the present invention is not limited to this, and these hole diameters are appropriately set depending on the size of the humidifying bottle 11 and the like, and are limited to those of the embodiment. is not.

[0056]

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the conduit communicating with the inflow port has a ventilation hole for guiding gas to the gas outflow port without passing humidified water, and a large gas supply amount. At the time of flow, the gas flowing into the humidifying water is restricted, and at the time of small flow, an orifice for securing the gas flowing through the humidifying water is provided, and the inside of the humidifying bottle is partitioned into a high humidity space and a low humidity space by a partition plate. Thus, a part of the gas flowing from the inlet of the lid can be discharged from the conduit into the humidifying water, and can flow into the low humidity space from the high humidity space through the communication hole of the partition plate while generating bubbling. Further, other gases can be discharged from the ventilation holes into the low-humidity space without passing through the humidified water.

Therefore, in the low-humidity space, the low-humidity gas discharged from the ventilation hole and the high-humidity gas passing through the humidifying water can be combined. Can be drained from

When a large amount of gas is supplied,
The flow rate of the gas discharged into the humidifying water can be restricted by the orifice provided in the conduit, and the rise of the gas humidity can be prevented. Therefore, the occurrence of dew condensation can be prevented, and the sanitary aspect can be improved.

On the other hand, when only a small flow rate of gas is supplied, the gas flowing into the conduit from the inlet can be secured as gas flowing through the humidified water by the orifice, and bubbling can be generated. The flow can be visually observed, giving the patient a sense of security.

Further, the inside of the humidifying bottle is partitioned into a high-humidity space and a low-humidity space by a partition plate to prevent the gas discharged from the vent from being humidified by the high-humidity gas near the saturated steam pressure. As a result, the humidity of the gas can be suppressed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when a small amount of gas flows into the conduit from the inlet, the gas can be discharged into the humidifying water through the orifice having a larger diameter than the vent hole, and bubbling can be achieved. Can be generated.
Then, the gas that has passed through the humidifying water can flow out into the low-humidity space through the communication hole having a larger diameter than the orifice without resistance. Therefore, even when a small amount of gas is supplied, the humidified gas can be caused to flow out of the outlet with bubbling occurring.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a humidifier according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a humidifier according to a first prior art.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a humidifier according to a second prior art.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a humidifier according to a third prior art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Humidification bottle 11A Opening 12 Humidification water 13 Lid 14 Inflow port 15 Outflow port 16 Conduit 17 Vent hole 18 Orifice 19 Partition plate 20 High humidity space 21 Low humidity space 22 Communication hole

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A humidifying bottle comprising a bottomed cylindrical body having an open top and a humidifying water filled in the bottom, and provided so as to removably cover the opening of the humidifying bottle. A lid provided with an outlet, a conduit inserted from the inlet of the lid to the bottom of the humidifying bottle, and a gas provided at the upper side of the conduit and passing gas through the gas outlet without passing humidified water. A vent that guides the airflow, and is provided in the conduit at a location downstream of the vent.
An orifice for restricting gas flowing through the humidifying water when the gas supply amount is a large flow rate, and securing a gas flowing through the humidifying water at a small flow rate; provided in the humidifying bottle at a position downstream of the vent hole; A partition plate for partitioning the inside of the humidifying bottle into a high-humidity space and a low-humidity space, and a high-humidity gas flowing from the high-humidity space to the low-humidity space while communicating with the high-humidity space and the low-humidity space. A gas humidifier comprising a communication hole for restricting the air humidification. 2. The gas humidifier according to claim 1, wherein the diameters of the ventilation hole, the orifice, and the communication hole are set in a relation of communication hole>orifice> vent hole.