JP2008144714A - Compressor, vacuum pump, compression/vacuum complex machine, and oxygen concentrator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a long-lived compressor, vacuum pump, compression/vacuum complex machine, and oxygen concentrator by preventing degradation of performance of equipment such as the compressor caused by wear of a packing. <P>SOLUTION: Protective films (DLC coating films) 133a are formed on inner peripheral surfaces of cylinders 133, 135, that is, inner peripheral surfaces where cup packings 71, 73 slide so as to reduce slide resistance by applying diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating. Similarly, protective films (DLC coating films) 71a are formed on surfaces of the cup packings 71, 73, especially a part making contact with the inner peripheral surfaces of the cylinders 133, 135 by applying the DLC coating. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used, for example, in an oxygen concentrator that uses an adsorbent that preferentially adsorbs nitrogen over oxygen and supplies high-concentration oxygen to a patient or the like by a pressure fluctuation adsorption method, and the oxygen concentrator. The present invention relates to a compressor, a vacuum pump, and a compression / vacuum compound machine.

Conventionally, a medical oxygen concentrator has been used for home oxygen therapy or the like as a device capable of supplying a high concentration of oxygen to a patient having a respiratory disease, for example.
This type of oxygen concentrator includes a membrane type oxygen concentrator using an oxygen-enriched membrane and an adsorption type oxygen concentrator obtained by selective adsorption of nitrogen. As the adsorption type oxygen concentrator, a compressor is used. A pressure fluctuation adsorption type oxygen concentrator used is known.

  In this pressure fluctuation adsorption type oxygen concentrator, oxygen concentration is performed using an adsorption cylinder filled with an adsorbent that preferentially adsorbs nitrogen over oxygen. Specifically, by supplying air to the adsorption cylinder by a compressor to make the inside of the cylinder pressurized, an adsorption process in which nitrogen in the air is adsorbed on the adsorbent and oxygen is concentrated and the adsorption cylinder is removed. By releasing the atmosphere and reducing the pressure, the desorption process (regeneration process: exhaust process) in which the adsorbent nitrogen is desorbed from the adsorbent and regenerated is repeated alternately or sequentially to produce oxygen-enriched gas continuously. ing.

For example, an induction (induction) motor is used in the compressor of the pressure fluctuation adsorption oxygen concentrator described above, and a cylinder and a piston are provided on both shafts of the motor. In general, the surface of the piston is hard anodized (see Reference 1).
JP 2004-211708 A

  In the above-described compressor, for example, a resin cup packing is used as a sealing material between the cylinder and the piston. However, if the compressor is used for a long period of time, the cup packing will be worn out, causing air leakage, and the compressor Performance (exhaust flow rate) will be reduced. For this reason, the oxygen concentration generated by the oxygen concentrator is lowered, which causes a problem that the life of the oxygen concentrator is reduced.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to prevent deterioration of the performance of equipment such as a compressor due to wear of packing, and to provide a long-life compressor, vacuum pump, compression / vacuum compound machine And providing an oxygen concentrator.

  (1) The invention of claim 1 is a compressor comprising a head that includes a cylinder and accommodates a piston, and a packing that slides with the piston and seals between the cylinders. The surface is DLC-coated, (B) at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder is DLC-coated, and (C) at least the inner peripheral surface when the cylinder is aluminum or an aluminum alloy. It is characterized by having a structure of any one of being hard anodized and coated with fluororesin.

  In the present invention, the surface of the packing and at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder are treated to reduce the friction as in any one of the above-described (A) to (C). Even in this case, the packing is not easily worn. Accordingly, since air leakage is unlikely to occur, it is possible to suppress a decrease in compressor performance (exhaust flow rate). For this reason, when this compressor is used in an oxygen concentrator, the generated oxygen concentration is unlikely to decrease, so that the life of the oxygen concentrator is improved.

Here, the DLC coating is a diamond-like coating (hereinafter the same).
It should be noted that as a technique for performing the hard alumite treatment and coating the fluororesin, Tafram treatment (registered trademark) can be adopted. Examples of the fluororesin include polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Teflon (registered trademark) (the same applies hereinafter).

  (2) The invention of claim 2 is a compressor comprising a head that includes a cylinder and accommodates a piston, and a packing that slides with the piston and seals between the cylinders. The surface is DLC coated, and at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder is DLC coated. (B) The surface of the packing is DLC coated, and the cylinder is In the case of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, at least the inner peripheral surface is hard anodized and is coated with a fluororesin.

  In the present invention, the surface of the packing and at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder are treated to reduce the friction as described above (A) or (B). Is hard to wear. Accordingly, since air leakage is unlikely to occur, it is possible to suppress a decrease in compressor performance (exhaust flow rate). For this reason, when this compressor is used in an oxygen concentrator, the generated oxygen concentration is unlikely to decrease, so that the life of the oxygen concentrator is improved.

(3) The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that the packing is a cup packing.
The present invention exemplifies packing. The cup packing is a packing whose outer peripheral side is curved in a dish shape on one side (the same applies hereinafter).

(4) The invention of claim 4 is characterized in that the packing is made of resin.
The present invention exemplifies the material of the packing. Examples of this resin include flexible fluororesins such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) Teflon (registered trademark) (the same applies hereinafter).

(5) The invention of claim 5 is characterized in that the compressor is for an oxygen concentrator.
The present invention illustrates the use of a compressor. With this compressor, it is possible to compress the air in the adsorption cylinder filled with the adsorbent.

  (6) The invention of claim 6 is a vacuum pump comprising: a head that includes a cylinder and that accommodates the piston; and a packing that slides together with the piston to seal between the cylinders. (A) The packing The surface of the cylinder is DLC-coated, (B) at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder is DLC-coated, and (C) when the cylinder is aluminum or an aluminum alloy, at least the inner periphery thereof It is characterized in that it has any one of the structures that the surface is hard anodized and is coated with fluororesin.

  In the present invention, the surface of the packing and at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder are treated to reduce friction as in any one of the above-described (A) to (C), so that the vacuum pump is used for a long time. Even if it is done, the packing is hard to wear. Thus, since air leakage is unlikely to occur, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the performance (exhaust flow rate) of the vacuum pump. For this reason, when this vacuum pump is used in an oxygen concentrator, the generated oxygen concentration is unlikely to decrease, so that the life of the oxygen concentrator is improved.

  (7) The invention of claim 7 is a vacuum pump comprising a head that includes a cylinder and accommodates a piston, and a packing that seals between the piston and the cylinder. (A) The surface of the packing is DLC. The cylinder is DLC-coated at least on the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder, and (B) the surface of the packing is DLC-coated, and the cylinder is made of aluminum or aluminum. In the case of an alloy, it is characterized in that at least an inner peripheral surface thereof is subjected to a hard anodizing treatment and is coated with a fluororesin, and has one kind of configuration.

  In the present invention, the surface of the packing and at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder are treated to reduce the friction as described above (A) or (B), so even when the vacuum pump is used for a long time, The packing is hard to wear. Thus, since air leakage is unlikely to occur, it is possible to suppress a decrease in performance (exhaust flow rate) of the vacuum pump. For this reason, when this vacuum pump is used in an oxygen concentrator, the generated oxygen concentration is unlikely to decrease, so that the life of the oxygen concentrator is improved.

(8) The invention of claim 8 is characterized in that the packing is a cup packing.
The present invention exemplifies packing.
(9) The invention of claim 9 is characterized in that the packing is made of resin.

The present invention exemplifies the material of the packing.
(10) The invention of claim 10 is characterized in that the vacuum pump is for an oxygen concentrator.

The present invention illustrates the use of a vacuum pump. With this vacuum pump, the oxygen-enriched film can be decompressed.
(11) The invention of claim 11 includes a head having a cylinder and accommodating a piston, and a compressor having a packing that slides with the piston and seals between the cylinder, as well as the cylinder, piston, and head. And a vacuum pump having a packing;
(A) The packing surface is DLC-coated, (B) At least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder is DLC-coated, (C) When the cylinder is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, at least an inner peripheral surface thereof is hard alumite-treated and is coated with a fluororesin, and has any one kind of configuration.

  The present invention relates to a compression / vacuum compound machine having a function of compressing air by a compressor and a function of reducing pressure by a vacuum pump, and corresponds to each function like a cylinder for a compressor and a cylinder for a vacuum pump. 2 or more cylinders and pistons.

  In the present invention, the surface of the packing and at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder are treated to reduce friction as in any one of the above-described (A) to (C). Even when used for a long time, the packing is not easily worn. Therefore, since air leakage hardly occurs, it is possible to suppress a decrease in performance (exhaust flow rate) of the compression / vacuum composite machine. For this reason, when this compression / vacuum combined machine is used in an oxygen concentrator, the generated oxygen concentration is unlikely to decrease, so that the life of the oxygen concentrator is improved.

(12) The invention of claim 12 includes a head having a cylinder and accommodating a piston, and a compressor having a packing that slides with the piston and seals between the cylinder, as well as the cylinder, piston, and head. And a vacuum pump having a packing;
(A) the surface of the packing is DLC coated, and at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder is DLC coated, (B) the packing When the cylinder is made of DLC coating and the cylinder is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, at least the inner peripheral surface thereof is hard anodized and coated with a fluororesin. It is characterized by having a seed configuration.

  In the present invention, the surface of the packing and at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder are treated to reduce friction as described above (A) or (B). However, the packing is more difficult to wear. Therefore, since air leakage hardly occurs, it is possible to suppress a decrease in performance (exhaust flow rate) of the compression / vacuum composite machine. For this reason, when this compression / vacuum combined machine is used in an oxygen concentrator, the generated oxygen concentration is unlikely to decrease, so that the life of the oxygen concentrator is improved.

(13) The invention of claim 13 is characterized in that the packing is a cup packing.
The present invention exemplifies packing.

(14) The invention of claim 14 is characterized in that the packing is made of resin.
The present invention exemplifies the material of the packing.
(15) The invention of claim 15 is characterized in that the compression / vacuum combined machine is for an oxygen concentrator.

  The present invention exemplifies the use of a compression / vacuum compound machine. Here, the air in the adsorption cylinder filled with the adsorbent can be compressed by a compressor, and the inside of the adsorption cylinder can be decompressed by a vacuum pump.

  (16) The invention (oxygen concentrator) of claim 16 is the compressor according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the vacuum pump according to any one of claims 6 to 10, and the claims 11 to 15. One or more of the compression / vacuum composite machines according to any one of the above are provided.

  In the oxygen concentrator of the present invention, one type of device is used among the three types of devices, ie, the compressor, the vacuum pump, and the compression / vacuum compound machine configured as described above, or two or more types of devices are used in combination. . Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the generated oxygen concentration from being lowered and to extend the life of the oxygen concentrator. Here, when using the above-described devices, one or a plurality of devices of each type can be used.

  The oxygen concentrator described above includes, for example, at least one adsorption cylinder filled with an adsorbent that preferentially adsorbs nitrogen over oxygen, air supply means that compresses and supplies air to the adsorption cylinder, and an adsorption cylinder A pressure fluctuation adsorption type oxygen concentrator that generates an oxygen-enriched gas from air.

  Next, an example (example) of the best mode of the present invention will be described.

  In this embodiment, a compressor is used to concentrate and remove oxygen from the air by adsorbing and removing nitrogen using, for example, zeolite (hereinafter referred to as an adsorbent) as a nitrogen adsorbent. An example is a pressure fluctuation adsorption type medical oxygen concentrator (hereinafter referred to as an oxygen concentrator) that supplies a product gas containing oxygen (hereinafter referred to as an oxygen concentrated gas) to a patient.

a) First, the configuration of the oxygen concentrator of this embodiment will be described.
In the oxygen concentrator of the present embodiment, each component for oxygen concentration as shown below is arranged in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped housing.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the oxygen concentrator 1 includes a dust filter 13 and a dust filter from an upstream side along an air flow path from an oxygen inlet 11 through which air is introduced from the outside. A finer intake air filter 15 and a compressor 17 that compresses air are provided, and a pair of cooling fans 19 and 21 that cool the compressor 17 are disposed in the vicinity of the compressor 17.

  Downstream of the compressor 17, a first supply valve 23 and a second supply valve 25 that supply pressurized air to the adsorption cylinders 27 and 29, and a pair of adsorption cylinders (the first adsorption cylinder 27 and the first adsorption cylinder filled with an adsorbent). 2 adsorption cylinders 29). In addition, exhaust gas from the adsorption cylinders 27 and 29 is exhausted into the flow paths (branch flow paths 35 and 37) separated from the flow paths 31 and 33 between the supply valves 23 and 25 and the adsorption cylinders 27 and 29. A first exhaust valve 39 and a second exhaust valve 41 are provided and connected to an exhaust passage 43 for exhausting nitrogen. A silencer 45 is provided in the exhaust path 43.

  Further, on the downstream side of the pair of adsorption cylinders 27, 29, a communication path 47 communicating between the adsorption cylinders 27, 29 and a pressure provided between the adsorption cylinders 27, 29 are provided in the communication path 47. A two-way valve (purge valve) 49, orifices 51 and 53 having the same diameter provided at both ends thereof, and a pair of check valves 55 and 57 for preventing the backflow of the oxygen-enriched gas are provided. Further, on the downstream side where the flow paths merge, a product tank 59 for storing oxygen-enriched gas, a pressure regulator (regulator) 61 for adjusting the pressure of the oxygen-enriched gas, and a flow rate for setting the flow rate of the oxygen-enriched gas A setting device 63 is provided, and is connected to an oxygen outlet 65 that supplies oxygen-enriched gas to the outside via a humidifier 64.

The compressor 17 and the cooling fans 19 and 21 are accommodated in the sheet metal chamber 67 for soundproofing.
b) Next, the structure of the compressor 17 which is the principal part of a present Example is demonstrated.

As shown in FIG. 2, the compressor 17 is a device that compresses air by a pair of left and right compression chambers 141 and 143, respectively. This will be described in detail below.
The compressor 17 is substantially T-shaped when viewed from the side, and is provided with a motor (DC brushless motor) 113 for driving the compressor 17 and a housing 115 for housing the motor 113 and the like at the lower portion. The motor 113 includes a drive shaft (rotary shaft) 117, an eccentric shaft (cam) 119, left and right connecting rods 121 and 123 (for driving the pistons 125 and 127), and a drive mechanism 129 thereof. And a casing 131 for storing the like.

  The casing 131 includes heads 83 and 85 on the left and right sides, respectively. The heads 83 and 85 include pistons 125 and 127 and cylinders 133 and 135 on which the pistons 125 and 127 slide. The compression chambers 141 and 143 are formed by being surrounded by the cylinders 133 and 135 and the pistons 125 and 127.

  In the compressor 17, the drive shaft 117 of the motor 113 is vertical, and the connecting rods 121, 123 and the like are arranged so as to be orthogonal to the drive shaft 117 (that is, horizontally). The left and right pistons 125 and 127 move so that the other exhausts when one compresses air. That is, when one piston 125 moves leftward, for example, the other piston 127 also moves in the same direction.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the housing 115 of the motor 113 constituting the outer wall of the compressor 17, the casing 131 of the drive mechanism 129, and the heads 83 and 85 having the cylinders 133 and 135 and the head covers 137 and 139 are formed by aluminum die casting. Made in one piece. The housing 115 and the casing 131 of the motor 113 are integrally fixed by bolts (not shown) arranged in the vertical direction.

  Of these, the motor 113 includes a drive shaft 117, bearings 161 and 163 that support the drive shaft 117, a rotor 165, a stator (armature) 167, and the like, and is disposed in a cylindrical housing 115. ing. The upper end of the drive shaft 117 is supported by a bearing 169 of the casing 131.

  Further, an eccentric shaft 119 is externally fitted on the upper portion of the drive shaft 117 of the motor 113, and a balancer 177, a right connecting rod 123, a left connecting rod 121, and a balancer 179 are externally attached to the eccentric shaft 119 from below. It is fitted. A spacer 181 is externally fitted between the balancer 179 and the bearing 169.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the tip portions (head covers) 137, 139 of the left and right heads 83, 85 have a pair of intake holes 145, 147 and exhaust holes 149, 151 communicating with the compression chambers 141, 143, respectively. Is provided. Among these, the first and second intake holes 145 and 147 are connected to branch air pipes (not shown) in order to supply air to the compressor 17, respectively, and the first and second exhaust holes 149 and 151 are In order to supply compressed air to the adsorption cylinders 27 and 29, respectively, they are connected to other branch air pipes (not shown).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4 (on the side of one head 83), the heads 83 and 85 are obtained by covering the tip ends of cylindrical cylinders 133 and 135 with disk-shaped cylinder covers 137 and 139, respectively. Flange-like leg portions 183 and 185 extending vertically in the outer peripheral direction are provided at the tips of 133 and 135 on the casing 131 side along the entire circumference. The heads 83 and 85 and the casing 131 are integrally fixed by bolts (not shown) arranged in the left-right direction.

  In addition, dish-shaped cup packings 71 and 73 are arranged on the front end surfaces of the pistons 125 and 127 with the opening side (recess side) on the head covers 137 and 139 side. The cup packings 71 and 73 are made of fluororesin (for example, made of Teflon (registered trademark)).

  Particularly in this embodiment, as schematically shown in FIG. 5, the inner peripheral surfaces of the cylinders 133 and 135, that is, the inner peripheral surfaces on which the cup packings 71 and 73 slide are reduced so as to reduce the sliding resistance. A diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating is applied to form a protective film (DLC coating film) 133a.

  Similarly, DLC coating is applied to the surfaces of the cup packings 71 and 73, particularly the portions contacting the inner peripheral surfaces of the cylinders 133 and 135, so that a protective film (DLC coating film) 71a is formed.

c) Next, the DLC coating processing method will be briefly described.
As a method of applying DLC coating to the surfaces of the cup packings 71 and 73 and the inner peripheral surfaces of the cylinders 133 and 135, a known processing method can be adopted.

  For example, various methods such as a plasma CVD method, an ion beam vapor deposition method, a cathodic arc vapor deposition method, and a UBM sputtering method can be adopted as a DLC coating method for the inner peripheral surfaces of the cylinders 133 and 135 (made of aluminum alloy).

Moreover, the following method is employable as a DLC coating method with respect to the surface of the cup packings 71 and 73 which consist of a fluororesin material.
First, plasma is used to expose the surface of the substrate with hydrogen radicals having high activity and an etching effect. Thereby, the free bond of the carbon which exists in the base-material surface is ensured, and this part couple | bonds with hydrogen.

  Next, by exposing the substrate surface with methyl groups, the hydrogen on the surface reacts with the methyl groups, leaving as methane. The methyl group reacts with the free bond on the substrate surface, and the DLC coating film 71a is formed by repeating this process.

d) Next, the basic operation of the oxygen concentrator 1 of this embodiment will be described.
In the oxygen concentrator 1 of the present embodiment, basically, oxygen concentration and adsorbent regeneration are performed by alternately repeating pressurization and pressure reduction in the first adsorption cylinder 27 and the second adsorption cylinder 29.

  For example, with respect to the first adsorption cylinder 27, the first supply valve 23 is opened and the first exhaust valve 39 is closed, compressed air is sent to the first adsorption cylinder 27 by the compressor 17, and nitrogen is adsorbed by the adsorbent so that oxygen is absorbed. Concentrate (adsorption process). On the other hand, for the second adsorption cylinder 29, the second supply valve 25 is closed and the second exhaust valve 41 is opened, the second adsorption cylinder 27 is connected to the atmosphere side, and the nitrogen adsorbed on the adsorbent is discharged together with the reduced pressure. (Regeneration process).

Then, the adsorption process and the regeneration process are alternately switched at predetermined intervals in each of the adsorption cylinders 27 and 29.
In this way, only the oxygen is extracted at the time of pressurization by the first and second adsorption cylinders 27 and 29, and the oxygen-enriched gas is supplied to the downstream product tank 59, the pressure regulator 61, the flow rate setting device 63, and the humidifier. 7. Supply to the outside (and thus to the patient) via oxygen outlet 65.

e) Next, the effect of the oxygen concentrator 1 of the present embodiment will be described.
The compressor 17 used in the oxygen concentrator 1 of the present embodiment has the DLC coating applied to the surfaces of the cup packings 71 and 73 that are sealing materials and the inner peripheral surfaces of the cylinders 133 and 135. Even when used, the cup packings 71 and 73 are not easily worn. Therefore, there is an effect that the air leakage of the compressor 17 hardly occurs and a decrease in the performance (exhaust flow rate) of the compressor 17 can be suppressed. As a result, the oxygen concentration generated in the oxygen concentrator 1 is unlikely to decrease, so that the service life of the oxygen concentrator 1 is improved.

  In this embodiment, DLC coating is applied to the inner peripheral surfaces of the cylinders 133 and 135 and the surfaces of the cup packings 71 and 73. However, it is effective to apply DLC coating to only one of them.

  In the present embodiment, the DLC coating is applied to the inner peripheral surfaces of the cylinders 133 and 135, but a Tafram process (registered trademark) may be performed. The tuffram treatment is a treatment in which a surface of an aluminum alloy base material is hard alumite treated, and pores on the surface generated by the hard alumite treatment are impregnated with a fluororesin (for example, Teflon (registered trademark) by PTFE).

  In addition, as a material of the cylinders 133 and 135, aluminum or an aluminum alloy can be adopted, but stainless steel or the like may be adopted as other materials.

Next, the second embodiment will be described, but the description of the same contents as the first embodiment will be simplified.
In the present embodiment, the configuration of the compression / vacuum compound machine disposed in the sheet metal chamber and its air piping is greatly different from that of the first embodiment. The same reference numerals are assigned to the same components as those in the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the oxygen concentrator 1 of the present embodiment, a compression / vacuum compound machine 205 is used to pressurize and depressurize the adsorption cylinder. The compression / vacuum compound machine 205 includes a pair of left and right heads 83 and 85, and each head 83 and 85 has a configuration that functions as a compressor 201 and a vacuum pump 203, respectively.

  The discharge side of the compressor 201 of the compression / vacuum compound machine 205 is connected to the first supply valve 23 and the second supply valve 25 in order to send compressed air to the first adsorption cylinder 27 and the second adsorption cylinder 29. The suction side of the vacuum pump 203 is connected to the first exhaust valve 39 and the second exhaust valve 41 in order to depressurize the first adsorption cylinder 27 and the second adsorption cylinder 29.

  Therefore, for example, when sending compressed air to the first adsorption cylinder 27, the first exhaust valve 39 is closed and the first supply valve 23 is opened, and conversely, for example, when the inside of the first adsorption cylinder 27 is decompressed, The first supply valve 23 is closed and the first exhaust valve 39 is opened.

  By performing this operation for each of the adsorption cylinders 27 and 29, the pressure reduction in each of the adsorption cylinders 27 and 29 can be suitably performed (from the first embodiment), and therefore, the regeneration of the adsorbent is performed more suitably. be able to. That is, high desorption performance (ability to remove nitrogen and moisture from the adsorbent) can be exhibited.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, the compressor 201 includes the same cylinder 215, piston 212, and cup packing 207 as in the first embodiment, but the structure of the vacuum pump 203 is slightly different.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, in the compressor 201, the outer peripheral portion of the cup packing 207 is curved to the left side (head cover 209 side) in the same figure, but in the vacuum pump 203, the outer periphery of the cup packing 211 is The portion is curved on the left side (piston 213 side) in FIG.

  In the present embodiment, as in the first embodiment, since the DLC coating is applied to the surfaces of the cup packings 207 and 211 and the inner peripheral surfaces of the cylinders 215 and 217, the same effects as in the first embodiment are obtained. Play.

  As described above, it is effective to apply DLC coating only to one of the inner peripheral surfaces of the cylinders 215 and 217 and the cup packings 207 and 211. In addition, the cylinders 215 and 217 may be subjected to a Taphram process (registered trademark).

Next, the third embodiment will be described, but the description of the same contents as the first embodiment will be simplified.
In this embodiment, an example in which two sets of cylinders and pistons both function as a vacuum pump is given.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the oxygen concentrator 300 of this embodiment, air is supplied to an oxygen-enriched membrane unit 303 made of a polymer material by a fan 301.
By depressurizing one side of the oxygen-enriched membrane unit 303 by the vacuum pump 305, oxygen is concentrated from the surrounding air to generate oxygen-enriched gas (oxygen-enriched air), which is sent to the heat exchanger 307 and the drain 309. Discharged.

  Also in this embodiment, the cup packing as shown in FIG. 7B is used, and the same DLC coating is applied to the surface of the cup packing and the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder. The effect is similar to the example.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Example at all, and it cannot be overemphasized that it can implement with a various aspect in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.
(1) For example, in the cylinder, the portion where the DLC coating is performed needs to be at least the inner peripheral surface, but the DLC coating may also be applied to other portions.

  (2) In addition to the compressor in which the piston moves horizontally, the present invention is also applicable to a compressor, a vacuum pump, etc. in which the drive shaft of the motor is arranged horizontally, the connecting rod is arranged vertically, and the piston moves vertically. it can.

(3) Furthermore, for example, when there is a pair of pistons, a compressor in which the pair of pistons move in the same direction or a compressor or a vacuum pump that moves in the opposite direction can be used.
(4) Moreover, only one type of the three types of devices, ie, the compressor, the vacuum pump, and the compression / vacuum compound machine can be used, or two or more types of devices can be used in combination. Further, when using the above-described devices, one or a plurality of devices of each type can be used. For example, in the case of a configuration that includes an oxygen concentrator body (master unit) and a portable oxygen concentrator (slave unit) that can be attached to and detached from the oxygen concentrator body, an oxygen concentrator is provided with a compressor or the like on the base unit side. While enrichment is possible, it is possible to provide a compressor or the like on the handset side to enable oxygen enrichment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a basic configuration of an oxygen concentrator of Example 1. It is explanatory drawing which shows the cross section (AA cross section of FIG. 3) of the compressor used for an oxygen concentrator. It is a top view which shows the compressor used for an oxygen concentrator. It is explanatory drawing which expands and shows the head part of a compressor expanded. It is explanatory drawing which expands and shows the sliding part of a cup packing further. It is explanatory drawing which shows the basic composition of the oxygen concentrator of Example 2. FIG. (A) is explanatory drawing which shows the compressor side of a compression / vacuum compound machine, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the vacuum pump side of a compression / vacuum compound machine. It is explanatory drawing which shows the basic composition of the oxygen concentrator of Example 3.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,300 ... Oxygen concentrator 17, 201 ... Compressor 27, 29 ... Adsorption cylinder 71, 73, 207, 211 ... Cup packing 83, 85 ... Head 113 ... Motor 125, 127, 212, 213 ... Piston 133, 135, 215 217 ... Cylinder 203, 305 ... Vacuum pump 205 ... Compression / vacuum compound machine

Claims (16)

A head having a cylinder and containing a piston;
A packing that slides with the piston to seal between the cylinders;
In the compressor with
(A) The surface of the packing is DLC coated.
(B) At least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder is DLC coated,
(C) When the cylinder is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, at least the inner peripheral surface thereof is hard anodized and coated with a fluororesin;
A compressor comprising any one of the configurations. A head having a cylinder and containing a piston;
A packing that slides with the piston to seal between the cylinders;
In the compressor with
(A) The surface of the packing is DLC coated, and at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder is DLC coated.
(B) When the surface of the packing is DLC coated, and the cylinder is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, at least the inner peripheral surface thereof is hard anodized and is coated with a fluororesin. There is,
A compressor comprising any one of the configurations.   The compressor according to claim 1, wherein the packing is a cup packing.   The compressor according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the packing is made of resin.   The compressor according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the compressor is used for an oxygen concentrator. A head having a cylinder and containing a piston;
A packing that slides with the piston to seal between the cylinders;
In a vacuum pump with
(A) The surface of the packing is DLC coated.
(B) At least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder is DLC coated,
(C) When the cylinder is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, at least the inner peripheral surface thereof is hard anodized and coated with a fluororesin;
A vacuum pump comprising any one of the configurations. A head having a cylinder and containing a piston;
A packing for sealing between the piston and the cylinder;
In a vacuum pump with
(A) The surface of the packing is DLC coated, and at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder is DLC coated.
(B) When the surface of the packing is DLC-coated, and when the cylinder is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, at least the inner peripheral surface thereof is hard-anodized and coated with a fluororesin. There is,
A vacuum pump comprising any one of the configurations.   The vacuum pump according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the packing is a cup packing.   The vacuum pump according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the packing is made of resin.   The vacuum pump according to claim 6, wherein the vacuum pump is for an oxygen concentrator. A head including a cylinder and containing a piston; and a compressor having a packing that slides together with the piston to seal between the cylinder;
Similarly, a vacuum pump having the cylinder, piston, head, and packing;
In a compression / vacuum combined machine equipped with
(A) The surface of the packing is DLC coated.
(B) At least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder is DLC coated,
(C) When the cylinder is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, at least the inner peripheral surface thereof is hard anodized and coated with a fluororesin;
A compression / vacuum composite machine characterized by comprising any one of the configurations. A head including a cylinder and containing a piston; and a compressor having a packing that slides together with the piston to seal between the cylinder;
Similarly, a vacuum pump having the cylinder, piston, head, and packing;
In a compression / vacuum combined machine equipped with
(A) The surface of the packing is DLC coated, and at least the inner peripheral surface of the cylinder is DLC coated.
(B) When the surface of the packing is DLC-coated, and when the cylinder is made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy, at least the inner peripheral surface thereof is hard-anodized and coated with a fluororesin. There is,
A compression / vacuum composite machine characterized by comprising any one of the configurations.   The compression / vacuum combined machine according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the packing is a cup packing.   The compression / vacuum combined machine according to claim 11, wherein the packing is made of resin.   The compression / vacuum combined machine according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the compression / vacuum combined machine is for an oxygen concentrator.   Among the compressor according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the vacuum pump according to any one of claims 6 to 10, and the compression / vacuum complex machine according to any one of claims 11 to 15, 1 An oxygen concentrator comprising more than seeds.

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