JP2014050519A - Cpap device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an easy-to-handle CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) device used for treatment of a sleep apnea syndrome.SOLUTION: A CPAP device includes: a body unit 10 which includes a silencing mechanism disposed close to an upper part inside a housing, reducing air inflow sound of air having flowed in from an air inflow port 11 and leading the air to a lower part, and a fan disposed close to the lower part inside the housing and sending, toward a mask 200 from an air outflow port, the air having flowed in from the air inflow port and having passed through the silencing mechanism, and is mounted on a patient head 300 together with the mask; and a controller 20 containing a fan-driving drive circuit, driving the fan, placed in a position separate from the body unit, and connected with the body unit using a cable.

Description

  The present invention relates to a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) device used for the treatment of sleep apnea syndrome.

  For the treatment of sleep apnea syndrome, a CPAP device is used in which a mask is applied to the face and air is forcibly sent to the airway by a fan. As this CPAP device, a main unit with a built-in fan, control unit, etc. is placed at a position away from the human body, and the hose is connected between the main unit and the mask addressed to the face with a hose of about 1.5 m. Generally, a structure in which air is sent via the air is used. Various types of masks have been developed and marketed, and patients select and use a mask that suits their face shape and taste.

  In the case of the CPAP device of this structure, it is necessary to periodically clean the mask and the hose as long as 1.5 m, and considering the carrying, the hose is long and bulky, and the main body device is also 140 × 180 × 100 mm There are a number of problems, such as the size of the volume and the size that is inconvenient to carry, and it is inconvenient for the patient, despite being a treatment method that must be used continuously every day. Therefore, it is one of the treatment instruments that are often not used continuously.

  Various structures have been proposed to solve these problems and to make the CPAP device easy to handle (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 5). There is no current situation.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention described later, a fan motor having an air dynamic pressure bearing is used, and here, literatures (Patent Documents 6 and 7) disclosed for the fan motor are listed.

US Application US2006 / 0096596A1 US Application US2007 / 0277827A1 US Application US2009 / 0194101A1 US application US2009 / 0320842A1 US Application US2010 / 0108070A1 JP 2007-57048 A JP 2009-52485 A

  In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a CPAP device that is easy to handle.

The CPAP device of the present invention that achieves the above object is as follows.
Compared with the upper part of the upper part, which is relatively large in the front-rear direction by the rear face facing the patient side in the posture attached to the patient's head relatively protruding toward the patient side, And a lower portion having a relatively small size in the front-rear direction, an air inlet is provided at the upper portion, and an air inlet is provided so as to cover the patient's nose. A housing provided at the bottom with an air outlet detachably coupled to an air inlet of a mask that supplies the taken air to the patient's airway;
A silencer mechanism that is arranged near the upper part inside the housing and that guides the air flowing in from the air inlet to the lower part by reducing the air inflow sound,
A fan that is arranged near the lower part of the inside of the housing and sends out air that flows in from the air inlet and passes through the silencing mechanism from the air outlet toward the mask,
A main unit mounted on the patient's head together with the mask, and a drive circuit for driving the fan to drive the fan. The main unit is placed at a position separated from the main unit and connected to the main unit with a cable. It is characterized by having a controller.

  The CPAP apparatus of the present invention includes the main body unit having the above-described structure, and the mask can be freely attached and detached. Therefore, various commercially available masks can be used.

  Moreover, since the CPAP apparatus of the present invention can be handled in a state in which the main body and various commercially available masks are integrated, it can be easily mounted and removed. In addition, since the main body and the controller are simply connected by a cable, the presence of the controller does not give a sense of incongruity compared to a configuration in which the main body and the controller are connected by a hose. Furthermore, since there is no hose, maintenance of the hose is unnecessary, and handling is easy also in this respect. Furthermore, the fan is a component that needs to be overhauled once a year. However, according to the present invention, the main body itself and the controller are configured separately, so that the main body itself can be used instead of the fan overhaul. It is also possible to use a specification that replaces.

Here, in the CPAP device of the present invention, the casing has a through hole for transmitting atmospheric pressure to the inside,
A pressure sensor that measures the pressure of air sent out by a fan and directed to the air outlet, a sensor case that covers the pressure sensor, and a connecting pipe that connects the inside of the sensor case and the through hole are provided in the casing. It is preferable to further include a built-in sensor assembly.

  In the CPAP device of the present invention, the fan is housed in the casing, and when the fan rotates, the entire interior of the casing tends to be negative pressure. Therefore, according to the sensor assembly, even if the inside of the housing becomes negative pressure, the inside of the sensor case is maintained at atmospheric pressure, so that accurate pressure measurement is performed.

  In the CPAP apparatus of the present invention, the fan preferably includes a fan motor having an air dynamic pressure bearing.

  Fan motors with air dynamic pressure bearings can rotate at high speed because the shaft and sleeve are not in contact with each other, and even when it is necessary to generate sufficient air pressure, they must be small and light. Therefore, the main unit can be made small and light.

  Furthermore, in the CPAP apparatus of the present invention, the housing is provided with a commercially available mask that is detachably mounted on the rear surface of the lower part of the main body unit separately from the air outlet that is coupled to the air inlet of the mask. It is preferable to have an attachment part.

  The direct connection between the main unit and the mask is only the connection between the air outlet of the main unit and the air intake of the mask, and the mask and the main unit are attached to the patient's head, for example with a separate belt. Although the structure may be fixed individually, the main body unit has a mask mounting portion, and in addition to the combination of the air outlet and the air intake described above, a commercially available mask is attached to the main body unit via the mask mounting portion. As a result, the integration of the mask and the main body unit is strengthened, the attachment to and detachment from the patient's head becomes easier, and the stability at the time of wearing can be improved.

  Here, in the case where the main unit has a mask mounting part, it has an attachment for fixing the upper part of the mask prepared according to the type of the mask, and the mask mounting part is for attaching the mask through the attachment More preferably.

  The shape of the mounting portion of a commercially available mask differs depending on the type of mask. For this reason, it becomes possible to attach the mask suitable for the patient selected from various kinds of masks by adopting the structure in which the mask is attached through the attachment as described above.

  According to the present invention described above, a CPAP device that is easy to handle is provided.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of a CPAP apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the main body unit which comprises the CPAP apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main unit constituting the CPAP device shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from a direction different from that in FIG. 2. It is a side view of a main-body unit and a mask of the state with which the patient's head was mounted | worn. It is a disassembled perspective view of the main body unit of the CPAP apparatus of this embodiment. FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing the main unit of the CPAP device according to the present embodiment as viewed from a different viewpoint from FIG. 5. It is a disassembled perspective view of a turbo fan. It is a disassembled perspective view of a sensor assembly. FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view showing the sensor assembly as viewed from a different angle from FIG. 8. It is the disassembled perspective view which showed the main body unit by the angle which can see the rear surface which faces a patient side at the time of mounting | wearing to a patient's head, and also showed the exclusive attachment. It is the perspective view which showed the state which attached the dedicated attachment to the main body unit of the same angle as FIG. It is the perspective view which showed the state which attached the mask further to the exclusive attachment attached to the main body unit. It is the front view which showed the main body unit seeing from the front. FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a state taken along the arrow AA shown in FIG. 13. FIG. 14 is a side view of the state taken along the arrow AA shown in FIG. 13. FIG. 14 is a perspective view in a state of being cut along the arrow BB shown in FIG. 13. It is a perspective view which shows a silencing member and a turbo fan. FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a sound deadening member and a turbofan in a state of being cut along an arrow CC shown in FIG. 17. FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a sound deadening member and a turbo fan in a state of being cut along an arrow DD shown in FIG. 17. It is a control block diagram of the CPAP apparatus of this embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a CPAP apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention. Here, an outline of the CPAP device in use is shown. 2 and 3 are perspective views showing the main unit constituting the CPAP apparatus shown in FIG. 1 as seen from different directions. In addition to the main unit, FIG. 2 also shows a mask that is detachable from the main unit and a dedicated attachment that is interposed between the main unit and the mask.

  The CPAP apparatus 100 includes a main unit 10 and a controller 20 as shown in FIG. The main unit 10 is attached to the patient's head 300 integrally with the mask 200. The controller 20 is placed at a position separated from the main unit 10 and is connected to the main unit 10 by a cable 30.

  The main body unit 10 and the mask 200 are coupled with an air flow path, and an upper part of the mask 200 is attached to the main body unit 10 via a dedicated attachment 210, and a lower part of the mask 200 is fixed to the patient's head 300 with a belt 220. At the same time, the dedicated attachment 210 is fixed to the patient head 300 by the belt 230.

  A fan described later is built in the housing of the main unit 10. When the fan rotates, air flows from the air inlet 11 provided at the upper end of the main unit 10, and air is sent out from the air outlet 12 provided at the lower end of the main unit 10 to the mask 200. The mask 200 is attached to the patient's head 300 so as to cover the patient's nose or the patient's nose and mouth, and plays a role of supplying the supplied air to the patient's airway.

  The controller 20 has a drive circuit for driving a fan (described later) built in the main unit 10. The controller 20 sends a drive current to the fan via the cable 30 to drive the fan. Have a role to play. The controller 20 is supplied with electric power from a commercial power source via the AC adapter 40 or via a built-in battery (not shown). As will be described later, the main unit 10 has a built-in pressure sensor for measuring the pressure of air flowing through the main unit 10, and a signal picked up by the pressure sensor is sent to the controller 20 via the cable 30. The controller 20 controls the rotational speed of the fan based on the signal.

  FIG. 4 is a side view of the main unit and the mask mounted on the patient's head.

  The main unit 10 has a housing composed of an upper part 10A and a lower part 10B. The upper surface 10A has a shape in which the dimension d1 in the front-rear direction is relatively large as the rear surface 13 facing the patient in the posture attached to the patient head 300 relatively protrudes toward the patient. On the other hand, the lower part 10B has a shape in which the dimension d2 in the front-rear direction is relatively small by retracting the rear surface 13 in a direction away from the patient, as compared with the upper part 10A. The air inlet 11 described above is provided in the upper part 10A, and is further provided in the upper end part of the upper part 10A in this embodiment. Moreover, the above-mentioned air outflow port 12 is provided in the lower part 10B, and in this embodiment, the air outflow port 12 is further provided in the lower end part of the lower part 10B, and protrudes toward the bottom. The mask 200 has a cylindrical air inlet 201 (see also FIG. 2) protruding upward, and the air inlet 201 and the air inlet 12 are inserted into the air outlet 12. 201 joins. A mask mounting portion 14 is provided on the rear surface 13 of the lower portion 10B of the main unit 10. The mask 200 is attached to the main unit 10 by connecting the air inlet 201 of the mask 200 to the air outlet 12 of the main unit 10, but the mask attachment portion 14 is connected to the air inlet 201 of the mask 200. Apart from the air outlet 12, the upper part of the mask 200 is attached to the main unit 10. As described above, the mask 200 is attached to the main body unit 10 by both the coupling of the air inlet 201 to the air outlet 12 and the attachment to the mask attachment portion 14. Integration with the mask 200 is strengthened, the attachment to and detachment from the patient's head 300 is facilitated, and the stability at the time of wearing is also improved.

  Here, the dedicated attachment 210 is directly attached to the mask attachment portion 14, and the mask 200 is attached to the dedicated attachment 210, thereby interposing the dedicated attachment 210 to the mask attachment portion 14 of the main body unit 10. It is attached. Many types of masks are commercially available as masks for CPAP devices, and a patient selects a mask suitable for himself / herself from among these masks. For this reason, a dedicated attachment 210 is prepared for each type of mask, and a dedicated attachment corresponding to the mask used is used.

  The shape and dimensions of the air inlet 201 of the mask 200 are determined by the standard regardless of the type of the mask, and the air outlet 12 of the main unit 10 has a shape and dimension conforming to the standard.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the mask 200 is provided with a leak hole 202 through which the air once sucked and exhaled by the patient is sent out.

  5 and 6 are exploded perspective views showing the main unit of the CPAP apparatus according to the present embodiment as seen from different viewpoints.

  The main unit 10 has a main body rear portion 101 and a main body front portion 102. The main body rear portion 101 and the main body front portion 102 constitute a housing of the main body unit 10.

  The portion corresponding to the upper portion 10A (see FIG. 4) of the main body unit 10 of the main body rear portion 101 is the rear surface 13 (see FIG. 4; the lower side in FIGS. (The surface facing the side) has a shape that protrudes relatively to the patient side. This is because, as shown in FIG. 4, a space between the rear surface 13 and the patient's head 300 is used to secure an air flow path of the silencing member 103 that functions as a silencing mechanism. This also suppresses the projected area from the front (upward in FIGS. 5 and 6), giving a more miniaturized impression. Further, the side surface 101a of the rear part 101 of the main body is made of a plastic that is not deformed like rubber even if it is grasped, and the area above the approximate center is larger than the area below the lower side, and is not so rounded. It is formed in a sharp shape. This is because the ease of grasping when the patient grasps the main body unit 10 is taken into account, and by making the main body unit 10 easy to grasp, handling when the mask 200 is attached to and detached from the main body unit 10 is facilitated.

  The main body rear portion 101 is provided with an air inlet 101b through which air flows and an air outlet 101c through which air flows out. Further, a boss 101d protruding inward from the rear surface (the lower surface in FIGS. 5 and 6) is formed in the rear portion 101 of the main body, and a through hole 101e communicating with the outside is formed in the boss 101d. The through hole 101e is for transmitting atmospheric pressure to the inside of the sensor assembly 109 described later.

  The main body rear portion 101 is made of plastic, while the main body front portion 102 is made of rubber having an appropriate softness in this embodiment in consideration of buffering properties, sound insulation properties, and contact with a patient. . Specifically, a rubber material having a hardness of 10 to 80 (JIS K 6253 durometer type A) is preferable. As the rubber material, silicon rubber is preferable, and furthermore, by adding a high specific gravity material such as barium (Ba), tantalum (Ta), tungsten (W), etc. to this rubber material, the surface density of the rubber is increased, and the sound insulating property is obtained. What improved is preferable. Further, when importance is attached to the load resistance and weight reduction of the main unit, the main body front portion 102 may be made of plastic.

  A silencer 103 is arranged near the upper part 10A (see FIG. 2) of the casing composed of the rear part 101 and the front part 102, and a turbo fan 104 is arranged near the lower part (see FIG. 2). Yes. The silencing member 103 is an example of the silencing mechanism according to the present invention, and plays a role of guiding the air flowing in from the air inlet 101b to the lower part 10B (see FIG. 2) while reducing the air inflowing sound.

  The turbo fan 104 is an example of a fan according to the present invention, and has an air dynamic pressure bearing. Air that flows in from the air inflow port 101b and takes in via the muffler 103 is sent from the air outflow port 101c to the mask 200. (See Fig. 2).

  In the present embodiment, since the turbo fan 104 that is heavier than the muffling member 103 is disposed closer to the lower portion 10B, the center of gravity is closer to the lower portion, and is provided near the center of gravity of the lower portion 10B of the main unit 10. Since the mask attachment portion 14 (see FIG. 4) is attached to the patient's head with the belt 230 with the dedicated attachment 210 interposed, the posture when attached to the patient's head 300 is stabilized.

  In addition, an air filter 105 is disposed immediately inside the air inlet 101b, and a notch 101f provided at a position adjacent to the air inlet 101b in the rear part 101 of the main body is provided with a hole through which the cable 30 passes. The cable bush 106 is fitted, and a suction cover 107 is fixed outside the air inlet 101b. The suction cover 107 has an air flow path 107a, and is for reducing noise by reducing wind noise during air suction. The air inlet that leads to the air flow path 107a of the suction cover 107 serves as the air inlet 11 as a whole of the main unit 10 (see also FIG. 3).

  The cable 30 passes through the notch 107 b provided in the suction cover 107, passes through the cable bush 106, and enters the inside of the main unit 10.

  A rubber cylinder 108 for connection to the mask 200 is fitted into the air outlet 101c. The mouth of the cylinder 108 on the side protruding from the lower part 101 of the main body serves as the air outlet 12 as a whole of the main unit 10 (see also FIG. 2).

  Further, a sensor assembly 109 and a relay board 110 are arranged in a housing composed of the main body rear portion 101 and the main body front portion 102.

  The sensor assembly 109 is for measuring the pressure of the air sent from the turbo fan 104 toward the air outlet 101c.

  The relay board 110 is a board for relaying signals transmitted and received between the main unit 10 and the controller 20 (see FIG. 1). A pressure signal representing the pressure measured by the sensor assembly 109 is transmitted to the controller 20 via the relay board 110, and a signal for driving the turbo fan 104 sent from the controller 20 is transmitted to the relay board 110. Is sent to the turbo fan 104 via.

  FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the turbo fan.

  The turbo fan 104 includes a turbo fan main body 104a and an air guide 104b. In this embodiment, the turbo fan main body 104a is a fan including a fan motor having an air dynamic pressure bearing between a shaft and a sleeve, and is capable of high-speed rotation. Can send high pressure air. In the present embodiment, a turbo fan using a fan motor having such an air dynamic pressure bearing is used as the fan, thereby further reducing the size and weight of the main unit 10.

  The air guide 104b is a pipe line that connects the air outlet 104c of the turbo fan main body 104a and the air outlet 101c (see FIG. 5) of the main body rear portion 101. The connecting portion of the air guide 104b with the turbo fan main body 104a is made of a rubber material and suppresses vibration and sound from propagating to the housing. The rubber material is preferably silicon rubber.

  Further, the air guide 104b forms an S-shaped flow path, and the discharge is reduced in a space-saving manner.

  Further, the air guide 104b is provided with a boss 104d protruding outward, and the boss 104d is formed with a communication hole 104e communicating with the inside and outside of the air guide 104b. The communication hole 104e is for guiding the pressure of the air flowing in the air guide 104b to the sensor assembly 109 (see FIG. 5).

  8 and 9 are exploded perspective views of the sensor assembly as seen from different angles.

  The sensor assembly 109 includes a pressure sensor 109a and a sensor case 109c that houses the pressure sensor 109a. The sensor case 109c is sealed to such an extent that the pressure sensor 109a is separated from the air pressure inside the housing of the main unit 10. The introduction pipe 109d of the pressure sensor 109a is for transmitting the air pressure to be measured to the inside of the pressure sensor 109a. The introduction pipe 109d is inserted into the O-ring 109e and sealed by the O-ring 109e. It protrudes from the opening 109f of the case 109c.

  The introduction tube 109d protruding from the opening 109f of the sensor case 109c is fitted into one end of an L-shaped silicon tube 109g, and the other end of the silicon tube 109g is connected to the air guide 104b shown in FIG. The boss 104d is fitted. Thereby, the air pressure inside the air guide 104b is transmitted to the pressure sensor 109a.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 9, another through hole 109i is formed in the sensor case 109c. One end of a cylindrical silicon tube 109h as a connecting pipe is inserted into the through hole 109i. A boss 101d (see FIG. 5) standing on the inside of the main body rear portion 101 is inserted into the other end of the silicon tube 109h. The boss 101d is formed with a through-hole 101e that communicates with the inside and outside, whereby the atmospheric pressure outside the main unit 10 is introduced into the sensor case 109c, and the pressure sensor 109a is maintained in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere.

  When the turbo fan 104 rotates, the inside of the main unit 10 tends to become negative pressure, and when the pressure sensor 109a is arranged in the main unit 10 without the sensor case 109c, the inside of the main unit 10 becomes negative pressure. This results in an error. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the pressure sensor 109a is covered with a sensor case 109c, and the atmospheric pressure is introduced into the sensor case 109c, thereby maintaining the pressure sensor 109a in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere. Thereby, the pressure of the air flowing through the air guide 104b (see FIG. 7) is measured with high accuracy by the pressure sensor 109a. Furthermore, since the pressure sensor 109a can be maintained in an atmospheric pressure atmosphere, the pressure fed into the airway can always be controlled with high accuracy even if the atmospheric pressure fluctuates due to changes in the usage environment (altitude). .

  FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view showing the main body unit at an angle at which a rear surface facing the patient side can be seen when being mounted on the patient's head, and further showing a dedicated attachment. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state in which a dedicated attachment is attached to the main body unit at the same angle as in FIG. 10, and FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a state in which a mask is further attached to the dedicated attachment.

  The mask attaching portion 14 of the main body unit 10 is provided on the lower side 10 </ b> B of the main body unit 10 on the patient side rear surface 13. A dedicated attachment 210 is directly attached to the mask attachment portion 14, and the mask 200 is attached to the dedicated attachment 210.

  The mask mounting portion 14 includes a base portion 141 protruding from the rear surface 13 toward the patient side, and a hook 142 extending downward from the base portion 141 into a cantilever shape and further protruding toward the rear surface 13. . The dedicated attachment 210 is provided with a mounting hole 211 for mounting to the mask mounting portion 14. In order to attach the dedicated attachment 210 to the mask attachment portion 14, the hook 142 of the mask attachment portion 14 is inserted into the attachment hole 211. Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the attachment hole 211 portion of the dedicated attachment 210 is sandwiched between the base portion 141 of the mask attachment portion 14 and the hook 142. In this way, the dedicated attachment 210 is attached to the mask attachment portion 14.

  In addition, the dedicated attachment 210 is provided with a pair of locking claws 212 (only the left locking claw is shown in the drawings in FIGS. A pair of belt insertion holes 213 is formed immediately outside each of the locking claws 212. As shown in FIG. 12, the mask 200 is provided with a pair of insertion holes 203 for belt insertion on the upper left and right sides (only the left insertion hole 203 is shown in the drawing in FIG. 12). When attaching the mask 200 to the dedicated attachment 210, the belt inserted through the insertion hole 203 of the mask 200 is removed, and the engagement of the dedicated attachment 210 into the insertion hole 203 of the mask 200 through which the belt is inserted. By inserting the nail 212, the mask 200 is attached to the dedicated attachment 210. Further, the belt removed from the mask 200 is inserted into the belt insertion hole 213 of the dedicated attachment 210 and used for fixing to the patient's head (see the belt 230 in FIG. 1). When removing the mask 200 from the dedicated attachment 210, the mask 200 is removed by grasping the left and right engaging claws 212 of the dedicated attachment 210 in a direction approaching each other and bending them inward.

  In attaching the mask 200 to the mask attachment portion 14, the dedicated attachment 210 is first attached to the mask attachment portion 14 in the procedure shown in FIGS. 10 to 12, and the mask 200 is attached to the dedicated attachment 210 attached to the mask attachment portion 14. May be attached. Alternatively, after attaching the dedicated attachment 210 to the mask 200, the dedicated attachment 210 attached to the mask 200 may be attached to the mask attaching portion 14.

  Here, the mask 200 is commercially available in various shapes. Therefore, in the case of this embodiment, the shape of the portion to be attached to the mask attachment portion 14 is common, and various dedicated attachments corresponding to the types of masks are prepared and are used by the patient. A dedicated attachment that matches the mask is used. As described above, the shape and dimensions of the air intake (see, for example, FIG. 2) of the mask 200 are determined by the standard, and are common regardless of the type of the mask.

  FIG. 13 is a front view of the main unit 10 as seen from the front. FIG. 13 is a view for showing a cross section of each of the following drawings.

  14 and 15 are a perspective view and a side view, respectively, in a state of being cut along the arrow AA shown in FIG.

  The silencing member 103 is accommodated in the upper portion 10A of the housing of the main unit 10, that is, in a region where the dimension d1 in the front-rear direction (see FIG. 4) is large, and the silencing member 103 uses the thickness in the front-rear direction. Thus, an S-shaped air flow path 103a is formed.

  Thus, the silencing member 103 is provided with a long air flow path using the thickness in the front-rear direction of the upper portion 10A of the main unit 10, and the silencing member 103 effectively reduces air inflow noise. The

  When the turbo fan 104 rotates, external air flows into the main unit 10 through the suction cover 107, and the flowed air flows in the S-shaped air flow path 103a along the arrow X shown in FIG. Is supplied to the turbo fan 104 and blown out from the cylinder 108 for connection to the mask toward the mask (not shown here) by the turbo fan 104. Here, the silencing member 103 in the present embodiment is a porous body made of open cells, and the air flow path 103a is not airtight. When the turbo fan 104 rotates, the entire inside of the housing of the main unit 10 becomes negative pressure. . The structure of the sensor unit 109 described above takes into account the negative pressure inside the housing.

  FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a state of being cut along the arrow BB shown in FIG. However, in FIG. 16, the muffling member 103 (see, for example, FIGS. 5 and 14) is not shown. A protrusion 102a protrudes on the inner surface of the main body front portion 102 (see FIG. 5). The turbo fan 104 is fixed by the projections 102a in the illustrated X direction (left and right direction when attached to the patient's head) and Z direction (front and rear direction when attached to the patient's head). In the turbo fan 104, in the Y direction (up and down direction when attached to the patient's head), one end of the air guide 104b (see FIG. 7) of the turbo fan 104 is fixed to the turbo fan main body 104a, and the other The end is fixed by being fixed to the peripheral part of the air outlet 101c (see FIG. 5) of the main body rear part 101 constituting the casing of the main unit 10.

  FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing the sound deadening member and the turbo fan.

  The silencing member 103 is formed with a cavity 103b through which a projection 102a (see FIG. 16) inside the main body front portion 102 is inserted, and the silencing member 103 is formed on the projection 102a of the main body front portion 102. It reaches the turbo fan 104 through the hollow portion 103b and supports the turbo fan 104 at the tip of the projection 102a.

  18 and 19 are perspective views showing the noise reduction member and the turbo fan in a state of being cut along the arrows CC and DD shown in FIG. 17, respectively.

  As shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, in the cavity 103 b provided in the muffling member 103, the flow of air flowing through the air flow path 103 a is hindered by the protrusion 102 a (see FIG. 16) of the main body front portion 102. It is provided at a position where it does not interfere with the air flow path 103a (see also FIG. 14 and FIG. 15).

  FIG. 20 is a control block diagram of the CPAP device 100 of this embodiment.

  Here, an air flow path flowing from the main unit 10 through the mask 200 and a control system of the main unit 10 and the controller 20 are shown.

  As described above, the air filter 105, the sound deadening member 103, and the turbo fan 104 are arranged on the air flow path of the main unit 10. When the turbo fan 104 rotates, air flows from the outside, and the air filter The dust in the air is removed by 105, noise due to the inflow of air is reduced by the silencer 103, and sent to the mask 200 by the rotation of the turbo fan 104.

  Further, the main body unit 10 is provided with a pressure sensor 109a, and the pressure of the air sent out by the turbo fan 104 is transmitted to the pressure sensor 109a. The pressure received by the pressure sensor 109a is converted into an electric signal by the pressure sensor 109a to generate a pressure signal. This pressure signal is transmitted to the controller 20 via the relay board 110.

  The air sent to the mask 200 is sent to the patient's airway by the patient's inhalation operation, and is discharged to the outside through the leak hole 202 by the patient's exhalation operation.

  Moreover, in the controller 20 of this embodiment, the pressure of the air sent into the mask 200 is designated by operation of the pressure designation part 21 by a doctor or the like. The designated pressure information is transmitted to the pressure control unit 22. The pressure control unit 22 is also transmitted with a pressure signal representing the air pressure transmitted to the pressure sensor 109a. Based on the pressure specified by the pressure specifying unit and the pressure information obtained from the pressure signal, the pressure control unit 22 outputs a drive control signal so that the pressure information obtained from the pressure signal matches the designated pressure. It is generated and sent to the motor drive circuit 23. The motor drive circuit 23 generates a drive current corresponding to the drive control signal and sends the drive current to the main unit 10.

  This drive current is transmitted to the turbo fan 104 via the relay board 110 of the main unit 10, and the turbo fan 104 rotates at a rotation speed corresponding to the drive current and sends out air toward the mask 200.

  Here, a control system is shown in which a pressure sensor 109a is provided in the main unit 10 and the air pressure transmitted to the pressure sensor 109a is controlled to match the specified pressure. In addition to the pressure sensor 109a, a flow rate sensor is further provided. By generating a flow rate signal from the flow rate discharged from the turbofan and outputting it to the controller 20, the controller 20 side receives both pressure and flow rate information, The target pressure may be calculated by detecting the presence or absence of an event related to apnea syndrome, and the pressure control unit 22 may generate a drive control signal so as to obtain the calculated target pressure.

  Alternatively, the flow rate sensor is not provided in the main unit 10 and only the pressure sensor is provided as shown in FIG. 20, and the flow rate is calculated from the pressure measured by the pressure sensor and the motor rotation number on the controller 20 side. The control similar to the case where the flow sensor is provided may be performed by estimating the presence / absence and the degree.

  The silencing member 103 of the CPAP device 100 according to the present embodiment described above is provided with the S-shaped air flow path 103a. However, the air flow path 103a is not limited to the S-shape, and may be other shapes such as a spiral shape. It may be a shaped air channel. In this embodiment, the silencing member 103 is arranged as the silencing mechanism according to the present invention. However, as the silencing mechanism, a silencing structure such as a Helmholtz resonator may be adopted in addition to the silencing member. The present invention is not limited to a specific silencing mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Main body unit 10A Upper part 10B Lower part 11, 101b Air inflow port 12, 101c Air outflow port 13 Rear surface 14 Mask mounting part 20 Controller 21 Pressure designation part 22 Pressure control part 23 Motor drive circuit 30 Cable 40 AC adapter 100 CPAP device 101 Main part rear part 101a Side surface 101d, 104d Boss 101e, 109i Through hole 101f, 107b Notch 102 Main body front part 102a Projection 103 Silencing member 103a, 107a Air flow path 103b Cavity 104 Turbo fan 104a Turbo fan body 104b Air guide 104c Air outlet 104e Communication Hole 105 Air filter 106 Cable bushing 107 Suction cover 108 Tube 109 Sensor assembly 109a Pressure sensor 109c Sensor case 109d Inlet tube 109e O-ring 10 f opening 109 g, 109h silicon tube 110 relay substrate 141 base 142 hook 200 mask 201 air inlet 202 leak hole 203 through hole 210 only attachment 211 mounting hole 212 engagement claw 213 belt insertion hole 220, 230 belt 300 patients head

Claims (5)

The rear surface facing the patient in the posture attached to the patient's head relatively protrudes toward the patient, so that the upper surface is relatively large in the front-rear direction. A lower portion having a relatively small size in the front-rear direction by relatively retracting in the direction of separation, and an air inflow port is provided in the upper portion, and an air intake port is provided to cover the patient's nose A housing provided at the lower portion with an air outlet port detachably coupled to the air inlet port of a mask for supplying air taken from the air inlet port to the patient's airway;
A silencer mechanism arranged near the upper part inside the housing and guiding the air flowing in from the air inlet to the lower part by reducing air inflow noise,
A fan that is arranged near the lower portion inside the housing and that sends out air that has flowed in from the air inlet and passed through the silencer mechanism toward the mask from the air outlet.
A main body unit to be mounted on the patient's head together with the mask, and a drive circuit for driving the fan to drive the fan. The main body unit is placed at a position separated from the main body unit. A CPAP device comprising a controller connected by a cable. The housing has a through hole for transmitting atmospheric pressure to the inside;
A pressure sensor that measures the pressure of air sent out by the fan and directed toward the air outlet, a sensor case that covers the pressure sensor, and a connecting pipe that connects the inside of the sensor case and the through-hole. The CPAP device according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor assembly built in the body.   The CPAP device according to claim 1, wherein the fan includes a fan motor having an air dynamic pressure bearing.   The housing includes a mask mounting portion provided on the rear surface of the lower portion, the mask mounting portion being detachably mounted, separately from the air outlet port coupled to the air intake port of the mask. The CPAP device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The attachment according to claim 4, further comprising an attachment for fixing an upper portion of the mask prepared according to a type of the mask, wherein the mask attaching portion attaches the mask via the attachment. CPAP device.

Images