JP2012183159A - Oxygen concentrator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an oxygen concentrator with high safety and a respiration syntonic type capable of detecting whether a high concentration oxygen is normally supplied in accordance with the respiration of a user.SOLUTION: In the oxygen concentrator with the respiration syntonic type, a syntonic valve of an oxygen supplying part includes: a first port connected with an oxygen storing part side; a second port connected with an oxygen outlet side; and a third port connected with a pressure sensor. Under a condition that either one of a first flow path connecting the first port and the second port, or a second flow path connecting the second port and the third port can be opened, and when the inspired gas of the user is detected by the pressure sensor under the condition that the second flow path is opened, the first flow path is closed, and the second flow path is opened. In addition, when the pressure sensor for detecting the respiration is connected with the flow path toward an oxygen outlet from the second port through a flow quantity restricting orifice, and a pressure change can be detected when the first flow path is opened and the high concentration oxygen is supplied to the user.

Description

  The present invention relates to an oxygen concentrator that introduces air and releases a high concentration of oxygen.

The oxygen concentrator is mainly used in home oxygen therapy (HOT) in which a patient with respiratory disease inhales oxygen at home, and a PSA method and an oxygen-enriched membrane method are known.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a general PSA type oxygen concentrator. As shown in FIG. 1, the PSA type oxygen concentrator 1 includes an air intake unit 10, an air compression unit 20, a PSA unit 30, an oxygen storage unit 40, and an oxygen supply unit 50.

In the oxygen concentrator 1, the raw air introduced from the air intake unit 10 is compressed by the air compression unit 20 to become compressed air, and this compressed air is sent to the PSA unit 30.
The PSA section 30 has two sheave beds (adsorption towers) 33A and 33B filled with an adsorbent such as zeolite having the property of adsorbing nitrogen faster than oxygen. When compressed air is sent to the sieve beds 33A and 33B and is in a pressurized state, nitrogen and moisture are adsorbed and only oxygen passes, and high-concentration oxygen is generated. On the other hand, when the sieve beds 33A and 33B having adsorbed nitrogen are returned to a reduced pressure state (for example, atmospheric pressure), the adsorbed nitrogen is desorbed and released, and the adsorption capability of the sieve beds 33A and 33B is regenerated. That is, in the PSA unit 30, high-concentration oxygen can be continuously generated by alternately repeating the pressurization and depressurization with the two sheave beds 33A and 33B.

  The high-concentration oxygen generated by the PSA unit 30 is once stored in the product tank 41 of the oxygen storage unit 40 and then adjusted to a constant pressure by a pressure adjustment unit (pressure regulator) 42. Then, high-concentration oxygen is released from the oxygen supply unit 50 at a constant flow rate, and is supplied to the body of the user (patient) via a nasal cannula, an oxygen mask, or the like connected to the oxygen concentrator 1.

  By the way, in the portable oxygen concentrator, a breath-synchronized oxygen concentrator that supplies high-concentration oxygen in synchronization with the user's breathing is proposed so that power saving can be realized and continuous operation can be performed for a long time. (For example, Patent Document 1). In this breath-synchronized oxygen concentrator, a pressure sensor provided in the oxygen supply unit 50 detects a pressure fluctuation (negative pressure at the start of inspiration) accompanying a user's breathing, and the tuning valve is in an “open” state. Thus, a certain amount of high-concentration oxygen is supplied instantaneously (after about 0.1 second) after the inspiration is detected.

An example of the oxygen supply part in the conventional oxygen concentrator is shown in FIGS.
FIG. 2 shows a configuration of an oxygen supply unit using a two-way valve as the tuning valve 52. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the pressure sensor 53 is connected between the port P2 of the tuning valve 52 and the oxygen outlet. In this case, when the tuning valve 52 is opened, the flow path connecting the port P1 and the port P2 is opened, and high-concentration oxygen is released from the oxygen outlet. On the other hand, when the tuning valve 52 is closed, the flow path connecting the port P1 and the port P2 is blocked, and the pressure sensor 53 can detect the pressure fluctuation accompanying the breathing of the user.

  FIG. 3 shows a configuration of an oxygen supply unit using a three-way valve as the tuning valve 52. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the pressure sensor 53 is connected to the port P <b> 3 of the tuning valve 52. In this case, for example, when the valve of the tuning valve 52 is opened, the flow path connecting the port P1 and the port P2 is opened, and high concentration oxygen is released from the oxygen outlet. On the other hand, when the valve of the tuning valve 52 is closed, the flow path connecting the port P2 and the port P3 is opened, and the pressure fluctuation caused by the user's breathing can be detected by the pressure sensor 53.

JP 2011-537 A

  However, when a two-way valve is used as the tuning valve 52 as shown in FIG. 2, a high pressure of high concentration oxygen (for example, about 200 kPa) is directly applied to the pressure sensor 53 when high concentration oxygen is supplied (at the time of intake). The Rukoto. Therefore, a sensor with a high breakdown voltage (a wide measurement range) must be used as the pressure sensor 53. In other words, although a measurement range of about ± 3 kPa is sufficient to detect a user's respiration, a pressure sensor with a wide measurement range must be used, which reduces the sensitivity of breath detection. End up.

  On the other hand, when a three-way valve is used as the tuning valve 52 as shown in FIG. 3, the pressure sensor 53 is cut off from the high concentration oxygen supply flow path when supplying high concentration oxygen, so that the high sensitivity of the measurement range is narrow. A pressure sensor can be used. However, the pressure sensor 53 can only detect the negative pressure at the initial stage of intake as shown in FIG. 4 and cannot detect the pressure fluctuation during the subsequent oxygen supply. That is, since the pressure sensor 53 cannot detect whether high-concentration oxygen is normally supplied according to the breathing of the user (whether it is released from the tuning valve 52), there is a problem in terms of safety. .

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a highly safe respiratory-synchronized oxygen concentrator that can detect whether high-concentration oxygen is normally supplied according to the breathing of the user. For the purpose.

An oxygen concentrator according to the present invention includes an oxygen storage unit that stores high-concentration oxygen;
A respiration-synchronized oxygen concentrator comprising a high-concentration oxygen delivered from the oxygen storage unit and an oxygen supply unit that releases the oxygen concentration in synchronism with a user's breathing from an oxygen outlet;
The oxygen supply unit detects a pressure fluctuation associated with a user's breathing; and
A tuning valve that opens and closes a supply channel for high-concentration oxygen based on the detection result by the pressure sensor,
The tuning valve has a first port connected to the oxygen reservoir side, a second port connected to the oxygen outlet side, and a third port connected to the pressure sensor, and the first port and the One of the first flow path connecting the second ports and the second flow path connecting the second port and the third port can be opened, and the pressure sensor can be opened while the second flow path is open. Is configured to close the first flow path and open the second flow path when the user's inspiration is detected by
The pressure sensor is connected to a flow path from the second port toward the oxygen outlet via a flow restriction orifice, and when the first flow path is opened and high concentration oxygen is supplied to the user It is possible to detect pressure fluctuation.

  According to the present invention, the pressure fluctuation at the time of oxygen supply can be detected by the pressure sensor for detecting respiration. Based on this pressure fluctuation, it is determined whether or not high concentration oxygen is normally released from the tuning valve. can do. In addition, since a highly sensitive pressure sensor can be used, the degree of obstruction of the nasal cannula connected to the oxygen concentrator can be determined based on the pressure fluctuation (pressure waveform) during inspiration. Therefore, an oxygen concentrator excellent in safety is provided.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a general PSA type oxygen concentrator. It is a figure which shows an example of the oxygen supply part in the conventional oxygen concentrator. It is a figure which shows another example of the oxygen supply part in the conventional oxygen concentrator. It is a figure which shows the pressure waveform acquired by the pressure sensor for respiration detection in the conventional oxygen concentrator. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the piping system of the oxygen concentrator which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the control system of the oxygen concentrator which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the pressure waveform acquired by the pressure sensor for respiration detection in the oxygen concentrator which concerns on embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a piping system of the oxygen concentrator according to the embodiment of the present invention. The oxygen concentrator 1 shown in FIG. 5 is a PSA type oxygen concentrator including an air intake unit 10, an air compression unit 20, a PSA unit 30, an oxygen storage unit 40, and an oxygen supply unit 50.

  The air intake unit 10 is a part that takes outside air that is raw material air into the housing, and includes an intake filter 11, a hepa filter 12, and the like. The intake filter 11 removes airborne particles such as dust and dust from the raw air introduced through the air intake port 13 provided in the housing. The hepa filter 12 removes fine particles that have not been removed by the intake filter 11. The raw material air introduced from the air intake 13 is filtered by the intake filter 11 and the hepa filter 12 and sent to the air compressor 20.

The air compression unit 20 is a so-called compressor that compresses the introduced raw material air to generate compressed air. Downstream of the air compression unit 20, a cooling pipe 21 having an excellent heat dissipation effect is provided to cool the compressed air whose temperature has risen. The temperature of the raw material air is increased by being compressed by the air compression unit 20, and the nitrogen adsorption efficiency in the PSA unit 30 is lowered as it is, so that the raw material air is cooled by passing through the cooling pipe 21. ing.
The compressed air generated by the air compression unit 20 is cooled by the cooling pipe 21 and sent to the PSA unit 30.
It is desirable to dispose an expansion silencer (silencer) that exhibits a silencing effect on the operation sound of the air compression unit 20 upstream of the air compression unit 20 (downstream of the hepa filter 12).

In the vicinity of the air compressor 20 and the cooling pipe 21, a cooling blower 70 for cooling them is disposed. The cooling blower 70 sucks outside air from an air inlet (not shown) provided in the housing and blows air toward the air compression unit 20 and the cooling pipe 21. The blown cooling air is exhausted from an exhaust port (not shown) provided in the housing. Note that the air intake port 13 described above may be shared as an intake port for the cooling blower 70.
For the cooling blower 70, for example, a necessary air volume is set based on a detection result (measured temperature) by a temperature sensor 71 (see FIG. 6) provided inside the housing, and the rotational speed of the drive motor is controlled so that the air volume is constant. (For example, inverter control).

  The PSA unit 30 is a part that separates nitrogen from the compressed air generated by the air compression unit 20 to generate high-concentration oxygen and sends it to the oxygen storage unit 40. The PSA unit 30 is a flow path switching unit 31, an exhaust silencer 32, and a sieve bed. (Adsorption tower) 33A, 33B, purge orifice 34, pressure equalizing valve 35, check valves 36, 36, and the like are provided.

The flow path switching unit 31 includes a manifold (manifold) having four switching valves SV1 to SV4, and alternately sends the compressed air generated by the air compression unit 20 to the sheave beds 33A and 33B. The beds 33A and 33B are alternately opened to atmospheric pressure to discharge nitrogen-enriched air.
Specifically, in the flow path switching unit 31, the switching valve SV1 is “open” and the switching valve SV2 is “closed”, whereby the flow path from the air compression unit 20 toward the sheave bed 33A is opened. Thus, the flow path from the sheave bed 33A toward the exhaust silencer 32 is closed. At the same time, in the flow path switching unit 31, the switching valve SV 3 is “closed” and the switching valve SV 4 is “open”, so that the flow path from the air compression unit 20 toward the sheave bed 33 B is closed, A flow path from the bed 33B toward the exhaust silencer 32 is opened. In this case, the compressed air generated by the air compressor 20 is sent to the sheave bed 33A, and nitrogen-enriched air is released from the sheave bed 33B and exhausted through the exhaust silencer 32.
When the switching valves SV1 to SV4 are in the opposite state, the compressed air generated by the air compressor 20 is sent to the sheave bed 33B, and nitrogen-enriched air is released from the sheave bed 33A. Then, the air is exhausted through the exhaust silencer 32. The open / close state of the switching valves SV1 to SV4 is switched at intervals of 10 seconds, for example.

  The exhaust silencer 32 is connected to an exhaust port (not shown) provided in the casing of the oxygen concentrator 1, and exhausts when the nitrogen-enriched air discharged from the sheave beds 33A and 33B is discharged to the outside of the casing. Mute the sound.

  The sheave beds 33A and 33B separate nitrogen from the compressed air sent via the flow path switching unit 31, and generate high-concentration oxygen. The sieve beds 33A and 33B are filled with an adsorbent such as zeolite having the property of adsorbing nitrogen faster than oxygen. Zeolite is a porous material made of aluminosilicate having fine pores in the crystal (for example, crystalline hydrous aluminosilicate containing alkaline earth metal), and various commercially available zeolites can be used. .

When the flow path from the air compression unit 20 is opened by the flow path switching unit 31, the sieve beds 33 </ b> A and 33 </ b> B are in a pressurized state by being fed with compressed air. At this time, in the sheave beds 33A and 33B, nitrogen and moisture are adsorbed and only oxygen passes, so that high-concentration oxygen is generated (adsorption process).
The concentration of the high-concentration oxygen generated in the sieve beds 33A and 33B is adjusted to, for example, about 90%. Further, since zeolite adsorbs not only nitrogen but also moisture, the high-concentration oxygen produced in the sieve beds 33A and 33B is extremely dry (for example, humidity 0.1 to 0.2%).

  On the other hand, when the flow path to the exhaust silencer 32 is opened by the flow path switching unit 31, the sheave beds 33 </ b> A and 33 </ b> B are released to atmospheric pressure and are in a reduced pressure state. At this time, nitrogen and moisture adsorbed on the zeolite are desorbed, nitrogen-enriched air is released from the sieve beds 33A and 33B, and exhausted through the exhaust silencer 32. Thereby, the adsorption capacity of the sheave beds 33A and 33B is regenerated (regeneration step).

  The sheave beds 33 </ b> A and 33 </ b> B are connected to the product tank 41 of the oxygen storage unit 40 via check valves 36 and 36. The check valves 36 and 36 prevent the high-concentration oxygen stored in the product tank 41 from flowing back to the sheave beds 33A and 33B.

  Further, the downstream side of the sheave beds 33A and 33B is connected by a pipe having a purge orifice 34. The high-concentration oxygen produced in one sheave bed 33A (or 33B) is sent to the oxygen reservoir 40 via the check valve 36 and the other sheave bed 33B (or 33A) via the purge orifice 34. Is sent out. A part of the generated high-concentration oxygen is sent to the other sheave bed 33B (or 33A), whereby the regeneration process of the sheave bed 33B (or 33A) is efficiently performed. The flow rate of high-concentration oxygen in each flow path is controlled by the orifice diameter of the purge orifice 34.

  Further, the downstream side of the sheave beds 33 </ b> A and 33 </ b> B is connected by a pipe having a pressure equalizing valve 35. When the sieve beds 33A and 33B in the regeneration process are switched to the adsorption process, if compressed air is allowed to flow in under reduced pressure (atmospheric pressure), the nitrogen adsorption efficiency is poor. Therefore, the pressure equalizing valve 35 is “opened” at the time of switching, and the pressures of the sheave beds 33A and 33B are averaged.

  The oxygen storage unit 40 is a part for temporarily storing high-concentration oxygen generated by the PSA unit 30, and includes a product tank 41, a pressure adjustment unit (pressure regulator) 42, an oxygen sensor 43, a pressure sensor 44, and the like. I have.

  The product tank 41 is a container for storing high-concentration oxygen produced in the sheave beds 33A and 33B. By storing the high concentration oxygen delivered from the sheave beds 33A and 33B in the product tank 41 once, the concentration fluctuation and pressure fluctuation of the high concentration oxygen are suppressed, so that the user can obtain a high concentration and flow rate at a stable level. Concentrated oxygen can be supplied.

  The pressure adjusting unit 42 adjusts the pressure of the high concentration oxygen to a constant pressure suitable for use in order to control the flow rate of the high concentration oxygen to be supplied. The pressure of the high-concentration oxygen stored in the product tank 41 varies not a little as long as there is an inflow to the product tank 41 or an outflow from the product tank 41. In this case, accurate flow rate control becomes difficult, and accurate concentration measurement by the oxygen sensor 43 becomes difficult. For this reason, the high-concentration oxygen is adjusted to a constant pressure by the pressure adjusting unit 42.

  The oxygen sensor 43 detects the concentration of high-concentration oxygen delivered from the pressure adjustment unit 42 at a predetermined interval (for example, 20 minutes) or continuously. As the oxygen sensor 43, for example, a zirconia type sensor or an ultrasonic sensor is suitable. Since the accurate measurement becomes difficult if the pressure of the high-concentration oxygen to be measured fluctuates, generally, the oxygen sensor 43 is connected to the downstream of the pressure adjustment unit 42 via the flow restriction orifice 45.

  The pressure sensor 44 detects the pressure of high-concentration oxygen stored in the product tank 41. Based on the detection result by the pressure sensor 44, it can be confirmed whether the pressure of the high concentration oxygen stored in the product tank 41 is maintained in a normal range. The pressure sensor 44 only needs to have a relatively wide measurement range capable of detecting a pressure of about 200 kPa, and is not required to have an accuracy enough to detect minute pressure fluctuations.

  The oxygen supply unit 50 is a part that discharges high-concentration oxygen delivered from the oxygen storage unit 40 from the oxygen outlet 55 in synchronization with the user's breathing. The oxygen supply unit 50 includes a bacteria filter 51, a tuning valve 52, a pressure sensor 53, and the like. I have.

  The bacteria filter 51 collects and disinfects bacteria contained in the high concentration oxygen in order to supply clean high concentration oxygen to the user.

The tuning valve 52 is composed of a three-way valve having ports P1 to P3, and switches the flow path to open according to the user's breathing and adjusts the opening degree of the flow path to supply high concentration to the user. Control the flow rate of oxygen. The bacteria filter 51 is connected to the port P1 of the tuning valve 52, the oxygen outlet 55 is connected to the port P2, and the pressure sensor 53 is connected to the port P3.
For example, when the tuning valve 52 is opened, a flow path (first flow path) connecting the port P1 and the port P2 is opened, and high-concentration oxygen is released from the oxygen outlet 55. On the other hand, when the tuning valve 52 is closed, the flow path (second flow path) connecting the port P2 and the port P3 is opened, and the pressure fluctuation caused by the user's breathing can be detected by the pressure sensor 53.

  The pressure sensor 53 is a sensor for detecting a user's respiration. The pressure sensor 53 is connected to the port P3 of the tuning valve 52 and has a flow rate downstream of the tuning valve 52 (a flow path connecting the port P2 and the oxygen outlet 55). It is connected via a restriction orifice 54. Therefore, in a state where the tuning valve 52 is “closed” (a state where the second flow path is opened), it is possible to detect a pressure that changes as the user breathes, and the tuning valve 52 is “open”. In the state of "" (the state in which the first flow path is open), it is possible to detect the pressure that changes with the supply of oxygen.

Here, the orifice diameter of the flow restriction orifice 54 is set to such an extent that the pressure in the flow path connecting the port P2 and the oxygen outlet 55 is reduced to 1/50 to 1/200 (for example, φ0.2 mm).
Thereby, since the pressure is reduced to about 1/50 to 1/200 and applied to the pressure sensor 53, a high-precision sensor with a narrow measurement range can be applied as the pressure sensor 53. In other words, when the tuning valve 52 is switched from “closed” to “open” during intake, high-pressure high-concentration oxygen is supplied. At this time, the pressure applied to the pressure sensor 53 is controlled by the flow restriction orifice 54. Since the pressure is reduced, no problem occurs even if a highly sensitive pressure sensor is used. And since the pressure fluctuation at the time of oxygen supply can be detected by the pressure sensor 53, it can be detected whether or not high concentration oxygen is normally released from the tuning valve 52.
In order to reliably detect minute pressure fluctuations accompanying the user's breathing, the pressure sensor 53 preferably has a measurement range of ± 4 kPa.

In the oxygen concentrator 1, the open / close state of the tuning valve 52 is controlled based on the detection result by the pressure sensor 53. Specifically, when the negative pressure is detected by the pressure sensor 53 in a state where the tuning valve 52 is “closed”, the tuning valve 52 is instantaneously opened and supply of high-concentration oxygen is started. Is done. Then, after a predetermined time (for example, 0.08 seconds) has elapsed, the tuning valve 52 is “closed”, whereby a predetermined amount of high-concentration oxygen is released. The high-concentration oxygen released from the oxygen supply unit 50 is supplied to the user via a nasal cannula or an oxygen mask connected to the oxygen outlet 55.
Since the high concentration oxygen is in an extremely dry state, a humidifying unit for humidifying the high concentration oxygen may be provided upstream of the oxygen outlet 55.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control system of the oxygen concentrator according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 60 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 61, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 62, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 63, and the like. The CPU 61 reads a program corresponding to the processing content from the ROM 63 and develops it in the RAM 62, and controls the operation of each block of the oxygen concentrator 1 in cooperation with the developed program.

Specifically, the control unit 60 receives detection signals from the oxygen sensor 43 of the oxygen storage unit 40, the pressure sensor 53 of the oxygen supply unit 50, the temperature sensor 71 installed inside the housing, and other various sensors. Entered. In addition, an operation signal for instructing a set flow rate is input to the control unit 60 when, for example, a user sets a supply flow rate in the operation unit 81 having operation buttons and the like.
Based on these input signals, the control unit 60 controls the number of rotations of the drive motors of the air compression unit 20 and the cooling blower 70, and the open / close state of the switching valves SV1 to SV4 and the tuning valve 52 of the flow path switching unit 31. And control the opening. By such control, high concentration oxygen is supplied from the oxygen concentrator 1 at a set flow rate.

In addition, the control unit 60 performs control related to display on the display unit 82 including a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a light emitting diode (LED), and control related to audio output from the speaker 83. . The display unit 82 and the speaker 83 are used when notifying the user of various types of information.
Although not shown in the drawings, the oxygen concentrator 1 is provided with an interface that can be connected to a communication network such as a wireless local area network (LAN) or Bluetooth (equal power) so that various data can be transmitted to and received from an external device. May be.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a pressure waveform acquired by the pressure sensor 53 for detecting respiration.
When the user exhales, the tuning valve 52 is “closed” (the second flow path is opened), and the pressure fluctuation in the flow path (oxygen supply flow path) from the tuning valve 52 toward the oxygen outlet 55 It is directly detected by the sensor 53 (the pressure fluctuation in the flow path from the pressure sensor 53 to the oxygen outlet 55 through the flow restriction orifice 54 can be ignored). At this time, there is almost no pressure fluctuation as shown in FIG.

  Thereafter, when inhalation is started, the negative pressure is instantaneously generated as shown in FIG. When the negative pressure is detected by the pressure sensor 53, the tuning valve 52 is "opened" (the first flow path is opened) for a predetermined time, and a predetermined amount of high-concentration oxygen is released. Therefore, the pressure increases rapidly as shown in FIG. Note that the pressure fluctuation in the oxygen supply flow path at this time is detected by the pressure sensor 53 via the flow restriction orifice 54. When the tuning valve 52 is “closed” and the release of high-concentration oxygen is stopped, the pressure rapidly decreases and returns to the reference pressure.

  Here, based on the pressure fluctuation peak detected by the pressure sensor 53, it can be determined whether or not a predetermined amount of high-concentration oxygen has been released from the tuning valve 52. For example, a threshold value (for example, about 70% of the peak) is set in advance based on a peak when a predetermined amount of high-concentration oxygen is normally released, and the peak of pressure fluctuation continues (for example, continuously 5). When the value is lower than the predetermined number of times, it is determined that a predetermined amount of high-concentration oxygen is not released from the tuning valve 52. In this case, it can be determined that some abnormality has occurred, for example, the supply channel for high-concentration oxygen is clogged. In addition, the supply amount of high-concentration oxygen can be estimated from the peak of pressure fluctuation.

  Further, based on the negative pressure waveform at the start of inspiration, the degree of obstruction of the nasal cannula connected to the oxygen concentrator 1 can be determined. For example, when the tube of the nasal cannula is twisted, the pressure fluctuation accompanying respiration is not normally reflected in the oxygen concentrator 1. That is, it can be determined that the nasal cannula is blocked when the negative pressure waveform at the start of inspiration is disturbed.

  As described above, when an operation abnormality occurs in the oxygen concentrator 1 or when the nasal cannula may be blocked, some abnormality occurs in the display by the display unit 82 or the sound from the speaker 83. It is desirable to inform the user that this is happening. Thereby, since the user can perceive that the malfunction has arisen in the oxygen concentrator 1, it can eliminate an abnormal situation at an early stage.

As described above, in the oxygen concentrator 1 according to the present embodiment, the oxygen supply unit (50) detects the pressure fluctuation accompanying the breathing of the user, and the detection result by the pressure sensor (53). And a tuning valve (52) for opening and closing the supply channel for high-concentration oxygen.
Further, the tuning valve (52) is connected to the first port (P1) connected to the oxygen reservoir (40) side, the second port (P2) connected to the oxygen outlet (55) side, and the pressure sensor (53). A third port (P3) to be connected, a first channel connecting the first port (P1) and the second port (P2), and a second channel connecting the second port (P2) and the third port (P3). When the user's inspiration is detected by the pressure sensor (53) while either one of the two flow paths can be opened and the second flow path is opened, the first flow path is closed and the second flow path is closed. It is comprised so that a flow path may be opened.
Then, the pressure sensor (53) is connected to the flow path from the second port (P2) to the oxygen outlet (55) via the flow restriction orifice (54), and the second flow path is opened, so that the user It is possible to detect pressure fluctuations when high-concentration oxygen is supplied.

  In the oxygen concentrator 1, since the pressure fluctuation at the time of oxygen supply can be detected by the pressure sensor 53 for detecting respiration, whether or not high concentration oxygen is normally released from the tuning valve 52 based on this pressure fluctuation. Can be determined. In addition, since the highly sensitive pressure sensor 53 can be used, the degree of obstruction of the nasal cannula connected to the oxygen concentrator 1 can be determined based on the pressure fluctuation (pressure waveform) during inspiration. That is, the oxygen concentrator 1 is an extremely safe oxygen concentrator.

As mentioned above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be changed without departing from the gist thereof.
For example, the flow path switching unit 31 of the PSA unit 30 may be configured using two three-way valves. In addition, the structure which concerns on the basic oxygen concentration function of an oxygen concentrator is not limited to the aspect shown in embodiment.
Further, for example, although the PSA type oxygen concentrator has been described in the embodiment, the present invention can also be applied to an oxygen supply device provided with an oxygen cylinder as an oxygen reservoir.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Oxygen concentrator 10 Air intake part 11 Intake filter 12 Hepa filter 13 Air intake port 20 Air compression part 21 Cooling pipe 30 PSA part 31 Flow path switching part 32 Exhaust silencer 33A, 33B Sheave bed 34 Purge orifice 35 Pressure equalizing valve 36 Check valve 40 Oxygen storage part 41 Product tank 42 Pressure adjustment part 43 Oxygen sensor 44 Pressure sensor 45 Flow restriction orifice 50 Oxygen supply part 51 Bacteria filter 52 Tuning valve 53 Pressure sensor 54 Flow restriction orifice 55 Oxygen outlet 60 Control part 61 CPU
62 RAM
63 ROM
70 Cooling Blower 71 Temperature Sensor 81 Operation Unit 82 Display Unit 83 Speakers SV1 to SV4 Switching Valve

Claims (3)

An oxygen reservoir for storing high concentration oxygen;
A respiration-synchronized oxygen concentrator comprising a high-concentration oxygen delivered from the oxygen storage unit and an oxygen supply unit that releases the oxygen concentration in synchronism with a user's breathing from an oxygen outlet;
The oxygen supply unit is
A pressure sensor that detects pressure fluctuations associated with the breathing of the user;
A tuning valve that opens and closes a supply channel for high-concentration oxygen based on the detection result by the pressure sensor,
The tuning valve has a first port connected to the oxygen reservoir side, a second port connected to the oxygen outlet side, and a third port connected to the pressure sensor, and the first port and the One of the first flow path connecting the second ports and the second flow path connecting the second port and the third port can be opened, and the pressure sensor can be opened while the second flow path is open. Is configured to close the first flow path and open the second flow path when the user's inspiration is detected by
The pressure sensor is connected to a flow path from the second port toward the oxygen outlet through a flow restriction orifice, and when the second flow path is opened and high concentration oxygen is supplied to the user. An oxygen concentrator that is capable of detecting pressure fluctuations.   The oxygen concentrator according to claim 1, wherein the pressure in the flow path from the second port to the oxygen outlet is reduced to 1/50 to 1/200 by the orifice diameter of the flow restriction orifice. An air intake for introducing the raw material air;
An air compression unit that generates compressed air from the raw material air introduced through the air intake unit;
The oxygen according to claim 1, further comprising: a PSA unit that separates nitrogen from the compressed air generated in the air compression unit to generate high-concentration oxygen and delivers the oxygen to the oxygen storage unit. Concentrator.

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