JP2001252360A - Oxygen concentrating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an oxygen concentrating device which is capable of drastically shortening the waiting time before the start of the supply of high- concentration oxygen in starting operation. SOLUTION: The medical oxygen concentrating device which is a pressure swing adsorption type for concentrating the oxygen in air and has >=2 adsorption beds includes a stop valve for passing the oxygen for regenerating purging to an oxygen replacement side of a whole volume buffer tank without passing the same to another adsorption bed side in starting the operation in a flow passage installed with a flow rate regulator.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an oxygen concentrator for separating and using an oxygen-enriched gas from the atmosphere, and more particularly, to a pressure fluctuation system used by a patient with a respiratory disease for medical treatment. The present invention relates to a medical oxygen concentrator.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An oxygen concentrator is a device for separating and concentrating oxygen in air. The separation and concentrating method is mainly a separation membrane system for obtaining an oxygen-enriched gas by using an oxygen permeable membrane, a nitrogen and oxygen system. There are two types of adsorption methods using an adsorbent having selective adsorption performance, but the adsorption type oxygen concentrator is becoming mainstream in view of the obtained oxygen concentration.

[0003] The oxygen concentrator of the adsorption system is composed of a compressor, a fan for cooling the heat generated from the compressor, and at least an oxygen-concentrated gas for obtaining an oxygen-enriched gas by utilizing the difference between the adsorbents' oxygen and nitrogen adsorption performance. It comprises one or more adsorbent beds, a regenerating means for regenerating the adsorbent, and a buffer tank for removing and stably supplying oxygen pulsations alternately generated from the two or more adsorbent beds.

In an oxygen concentrator having two or more adsorbent beds, one of the adsorbent beds adsorbs nitrogen to concentrate oxygen, and a part of the produced oxygen is transferred to another adsorbent bed via a circulation circuit. Nitrogen adhering to the adsorbent is desorbed by allowing the adsorbent to flow in the direction opposite to the direction of the adsorption step during the adsorption step (hereinafter referred to as purge), and the adsorbent is regenerated at the same time. .

In the regeneration of an adsorbent in an oxygen concentrator having two or more adsorbent beds, if only a flow control means is provided in a flow circuit for regeneration, the amount of oxygen on the discharge side and the regeneration of the adsorbent Although it is possible to adjust the amount of oxygen to the recovery side in a well-balanced manner, oxygen is always circulated from the adsorption side to the regeneration side, and at the start of operation, the oxygen purge in the buffer tank is delayed by the amount of regeneration purge. The time required to start supplying high-concentration oxygen is delayed.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in an oxygen concentrator having two or more adsorbent beds, a delay in a rise time until the start of high-concentration oxygen supply at the start of operation is minimized. An object of the present invention is to provide an oxygen concentrator.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems The present inventor has conducted intensive studies with the aim of solving such a problem. As a result, the oxygen concentrator having a pressure fluctuation adsorption type having two or more adsorption beds has been used since the start of operation. Until the adsorption step is switched to the next adsorption bed, by closing the purge flow passage between the adsorption beds by the on-off valve, oxygen exchange of the buffer tank can be performed as quickly as possible, The inventors have found that the supply of highly concentrated oxygen can be started in the shortest time, and arrived at the present invention.

[0008] That is, the present invention provides a pressure fluctuation apparatus comprising two or more adsorption beds filled with an adsorbent for adsorbing nitrogen more preferentially than oxygen, and air supply means for supplying air to the adsorption beds. In an adsorption-type oxygen concentrator, there is one circuit for flowing the oxygen-enriched gas from one adsorbent bed to the other adsorbent bed between the adsorbent beds. An oxygen concentrator characterized by having an opening / closing means capable of opening / closing control.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail. The oxygen concentrating device of the present invention obtains oxygen-enriched gas from the air using an adsorbent having selective adsorption performance, and uses a compressor as a means for supplying air as a raw material. Further, the compressor generates heat during its operation, and thus is provided with a fan for cooling the heat. The raw material air pressurized and supplied by the compressor, after selectively adsorbing nitrogen components in the adsorbent bed, purging a part of the obtained oxygen to other adsorbent beds and desorbing, and regenerating the adsorbent in parallel This is an apparatus that can continuously obtain oxygen gas with high concentration while performing.

[0010] In the apparatus of the present invention, the adsorption bed comprises:
Any number of two or more may be used, but two are desirable in the case of a small-sized oxygen concentrator for medical use and also considering home treatment. In general, various types of compressors are commercially available, but any type can be used as long as it can supply raw material air at a predetermined pressure and flow rate. However, an oil-lubricated compressor is preferably an oil-free compressor because compressed air sometimes contains oil and requires post-treatment. There are various types of fans, such as an integrated fan attached to the power shaft of the compressor and a fan attached separately, but there is no problem if the cooling capacity is sufficient, and a low power consumption type with low noise is used as the device. desirable.

The oxygen concentrator of the present invention is characterized in that, in addition to the flow regulator for purifying the adsorbent regeneration, a flow passage opening / closing valve for minimizing the start time of oxygen replacement of the buffer tank and supply of high-concentration oxygen at the start of operation. Is provided. The purging flow passage may have a thickness that allows the flow rate required for regeneration of the adsorbent to pass without causing a pressure change, and the flow regulator may have any structure that can set the required flow rate. In order to prevent a set value deviation, it is more preferable to use an orifice which is a method of fixing the flow rate at a predetermined value. The flow passage opening / closing valve may be a two-way valve having a simple structure, and the valve diameter may be any thickness that does not interfere with the flow rate of the adsorbent regeneration purge. It is desirable to use an electromagnetic valve whose opening and closing can be easily controlled by an electric signal.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an example of a system diagram of the oxygen concentrator. In this figure, 1 is an intake filter, 2 is a compressor, 3 is a cooling fan, 4 and 5 are three-way valves, 6 is a silencer, 7 is a pressure gauge, 8 and 9 are adsorption beds, 10 is a flow path for regeneration purge, 11 is a flow regulator, 12 is a two-way valve, 13 and 1
4 is a check valve and 15 is a buffer tank. Compared with a conventional oxygen concentrator, an on-off valve 12 for minimizing the time until the start of high-concentration oxygen supply at the start of operation is provided in addition to the regeneration purge flow passage 10 and the flow regulator 11. Is a major feature of the present invention.

In the regeneration of an adsorbent in an oxygen concentrator having two or more adsorption beds, the regeneration purge amount is set to an amount that can be sufficiently regenerated within the time for switching the adsorption / desorption step of the adsorption bed. An equivalent level of volume is purged from half of the oxygen supply capacity. Therefore, when the operation is started, the regeneration purge oxygen is supplied to the replacement side of the entire buffer tank, and the time until the start of the supply of the high-concentration oxygen is greatly reduced.

[0014]

According to the present invention, the waiting time until the start of the supply of high-concentration oxygen at the start of operation can be greatly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an example of a system diagram of an oxygen concentrator.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Intake filter 2 Compressor 3 Cooling fan 4 Three-way valve 5 Three-way valve 6 Silencer 7 Pressure gauge 8 Adsorption bed 9 Adsorption bed 10 Regeneration purge flow path 11 Flow regulator 12 Two-way valve 13 Check valve 14 Check valve 15 Buffer tank

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A pressure fluctuation adsorption type having two or more adsorption beds filled with an adsorbent for adsorbing nitrogen more preferentially than oxygen and an air supply means for supplying air to the adsorption beds. In the oxygen concentrator, there is one circuit for flowing the oxygen-enriched gas from one adsorbent bed to the other adsorbent bed between the adsorbent beds, and the means for controlling the flow rate and the open / close control of the flow can be controlled in the one adsorbent bed. An oxygen concentrator characterized by having an opening and closing means.