JP2593810B2 - Respiratory oxygenator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in an oxygen supply apparatus for concentrating oxygen from the atmosphere and supplying the oxygen for respiration.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a gas separation apparatus for concentrating and separating a specific gas such as oxygen from a mixed gas such as the atmosphere, there is a conventional gas separation apparatus described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 1-124221. According to this conventional technique, compressed air from a compressor is alternately sent to a specific gas, for example, two adsorption containers filled with a nitrogen gas adsorbent through a plurality of interlocking control valves, and the adsorption and desorption regeneration of nitrogen gas are performed for a predetermined time. It is a gas separation device that concentrates and extracts oxygen in the atmosphere by alternately repeating it every time.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned prior art, no consideration has been given to reducing noise and heat generated from the compressor. As an indoor oxygen supply device for supplying oxygen to a patient for breathing, noise and heat generated by a compressor significantly reduce the living environment of a living room, causing the patient to feel pain. Therefore, a respiratory oxygen supply device which has attempted to solve the above-mentioned problem has been conventionally known, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-97605.

This prior art includes an oxygen concentrating function section for separating oxygen-enriched gas having an increased oxygen concentration from air,
A pump means with a motor for supplying raw air to the oxygen concentrating function section or extracting oxygen-enriched gas from the oxygen concentrating function section, and for causing an air flow around the pump means with the motor to cool it In a box, and an oxygen concentrator equipped with an inlet for air, an outlet for air used for cooling, and an outlet for oxygen-enriched gas on the wall of the box. An oxygen concentrating device comprising a deriving unit for deriving used air to the outside of a room.

In this conventional example, noise generated in a compressor is reduced by a soundproof airtight box made of soundproof material, and hot air generated by air cooling of a compressor and a heat exchanger for cooling compressed air is mixed in the box. It is opened at the rear lower part of the box via a soundproof duct that is detoured to the outside, and the air is exhausted from the exhaust port to the vicinity of the floor surface in the patient's living room to radiate heat.

[0006] Therefore, this is not a thing that cuts off noise and heat from its source, but is a palliative one in which noise is prevented by a heavy soundproof closed box, and heat is dissipated near the rear floor of the soundproof box. However, the soundproof enclosure is large and heavy because it has a soundproof duct that is circumvented intricately, and it is uneconomical in terms of cost and space when the soundproof duct is installed in the box. There is a problem.

The present invention provides a comfortable living environment for the user by directly reducing the noise level and the amount of heat generated in the compressor in order to eliminate the above-mentioned problems. It is an object of the present invention to extend the life of rotating carbon blades, especially in rotary compressors.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for adsorbing nitrogen gas by alternately sending compressed air from a compressor to a plurality of adsorption containers filled with a nitrogen gas adsorbent through a plurality of solenoid valves. By alternately repeating the desorption and regeneration at predetermined time intervals, in configuring an oxygen supply device that concentrates oxygen in the atmosphere and supplies it to breathing, a compressor having a compression capacity slightly larger than the required compression capacity of the compressor is used. This can be achieved by using an exhaust system that uses and exhausts excess pressure air generated on the air feeding side of each adsorption vessel to the atmosphere via a muffler through a flow control valve.

[0009]

The compressed air from the compressor is alternately sent to the two adsorption vessels filled with the nitrogen gas adsorbent via the well-known solenoid on / off valve which is switched and operated based on a series of sequences, thereby adsorbing and desorbing and regenerating the nitrogen gas. Is alternately repeated at predetermined time intervals through the on-off valve, whereby oxygen in the atmosphere can be concentrated and extracted.

In the present invention, in particular, a compressor having a margin of a compression capacity slightly larger than a required compression capacity is used as the compressor, and the excess pressure air generated on the air feeding side of each of the adsorption vessels is supplied to a flow control valve. By releasing the air into the atmosphere, the load on the compressor can be reduced, the heat generation and noise can be significantly reduced, and the life of the rotary carbon blades of the rotary compressor can be extended with the decrease in heat generation. Was.

Further, since the excess pressure air generated on the input side of each adsorption vessel is released into the atmosphere through the flow control valve, it is possible to cope with the variation in the operating capacity of the compressor and the adsorption vessel.

[0012]

An embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. First, as shown in FIG. 1, the basic configuration of the present invention is composed of two adsorption containers 1A and 1 made of plastic or metal filled with a nitrogen gas adsorbent a such as molecular sieve or zeolite.
The known electromagnetic on-off valves (hereinafter simply referred to as on-off valves) V1 and V2, which operate based on a series of sequence commands from the well-known sequencer S, are connected to the raw material air feeding sides 1a and 1b at the lower part of B to connect the filter 2a. The piping is arranged such that the compressed air from the compressor 2 that has passed through is alternately sent to the adsorption vessels 1A and 1B.

Next, oxygen-concentrated air is sent to and stored in the product tank T via alternately open / close valves V3 and V4 connected to the oxygen-concentrated air extraction side in the upper portions of the adsorption vessels 1A and 1B, and the extraction valve V0 and the constant-pressure valve V are set. Supply to the user.

The valves V3 and V4 are closed together, and the oxygen-enriched air obtained from the discharge side is alternately reversed from the upper discharge side of an adjacent adsorption vessel alternately at predetermined intervals by an on-off valve or a normally open orifice V5. By sending, the desorption and regeneration of the nitrogen gas adsorbent a can be executed alternately.

That is, the nitrogen-enriched air generated in the adsorption vessel by the desorption regeneration is discharged into the atmosphere from the well-known silencer 4A through alternately open / close valves V6 and V7 connected in series between the lower parts of the adsorption vessels 1A and 1B. By performing the desorption and regeneration of the adsorbent a, the adsorption of the nitrogen gas and the desorption and regeneration of the adsorbent a in the adsorption vessels 1A and 1B are alternately repeated, and the oxygen in the atmosphere can be concentrated for respiration. A known oxygen supply device is constructed.

In the present invention, in particular, a rotary compressor having a margin of compression capacity slightly larger than a required compression capacity is used as the compressor 2, and the excess pressure air generated on the air feeding side of each of the adsorption vessels 1A and 1B is used. Is provided through a flow control valve 3 and a silencer 4 to the atmosphere.

The gap between the valve body 3c and the valve seat 3d is changed to the input pressure or the pressure by changing the elasticity of the spring 3b with the screw 3a as shown in FIG. When the pressure on the air feeding side of the adsorption vessels 1A, 1B is large, the knob 3a is folded and spread as shown in FIG. 3 so that the excess pressure air on the raw material air feeding sides 1a, 1b of the adsorption vessels 1A, 1B is increased. As described above through the silencer 4 into the atmosphere.

Further, as shown by the chain line route in FIG. 1, the silencer 4 may also be used as a silencer 4A for releasing nitrogen-enriched air accompanying the desorption of the adsorbent. The muffler 4A is connected to the pipe as shown in FIG. 1 by two plugs 4c and 4d which open to a space 4b on a well-known muffling member 4a made of a continuous foaming material such as a sponge as shown in FIG. Can be used. In FIGS. 3 and 4, what is indicated by reference numeral O is a rubber O-ring.

The configuration of the apparatus according to the present invention is as described above, and an example of its use will be described below. First, the on-off valve V1,
When only V3 is opened for about 12 seconds and the compressor 2 is started, oxygen-enriched air that has passed through the nitrogen gas adsorbent a in the adsorption vessel 1A accumulates in the product tank T, and the internal air is discharged from the open take-out valve V0 to the constant-pressure valve V Go outside through.

Next, when only the on-off valves V2 and V4 are opened for about 8 seconds, the oxygen-enriched air that has passed through the adsorption vessel 1B enters the tank T. After 8 seconds, the on-off valves V2 and V5 (normally open orifices can be used). ), When only V6 is opened for about 8 seconds, the oxygen-enriched air passing through the adsorption vessel 1B enters from the upper part of the adjacent adsorption vessel 1A via the valve or the orifice V5, and desorbs and regenerates the adsorbent a. The nitrogen-enriched air is discharged outside via the valve V6 and the silencer 4A.

Next, only the on-off valves V1 and V3 are opened for about 8 seconds to concentrate the oxygen in the atmosphere as described above and store it in the tank T. Then, on-off valves V1 and V5 (normally open orifices are also possible), V7 Is opened, the adsorbent a in the adsorption vessel 1B is desorbed in the same manner as described above, and the exhaust gas is discharged to the on-off valve V7 and the silencer 4A.
Are sequentially released to the outside.

When the above operation is repeated about ten times, the tank T
Since the inside is filled with oxygen-enriched air, the take-out valve V0 is closed, the internal pressure is increased to about 1.5 atm, the take-out valve V0 is opened if necessary, and oxygen-concentrated air at a predetermined pressure by the constant-pressure valve V is supplied to the patient or the like. Can be supplied to

[0023]

As described above, the present invention has the following advantages. Compressed air from the compressor 2 is alternately sent to the two adsorption vessels 1A and 1B filled with the nitrogen gas adsorbent via a plurality of solenoid on-off valves, and the adsorption and desorption regeneration of the nitrogen gas are alternately repeated at predetermined time intervals. In configuring an oxygen supply device for concentrating oxygen in the atmosphere and supplying it to breathing, a compressor having a compression capacity slightly larger than a required compression capacity is used for the compressor 2,
Since an exhaust system is provided to dissipate excess pressure air generated on the air feeding side of each of the adsorption vessels 1A and 1B to the atmosphere via the flow control valve 3 and the muffler 4, the oxygen concentration capacity in the atmosphere is reduced. Without reducing the load on the compressor, significantly reducing the heat generation and noise, and extending the life of the rotary carbon blades of the rotary compressor along with the decrease in heat generation.
Has the effect of

Also, the air feeding side 1a,
Since the excess pressure air generated in 1b is allowed to escape into the atmosphere via the flow control valve, there is also a third effect that the variation in the operating capacity of the compressor and the adsorption vessel can be well coped with.

According to the second aspect, the exhaust silencer 4A for exhausting nitrogen-enriched air at the time of desorption and regeneration of the adsorbent is connected to the flow control valve 3
Since the exhaust muffler was also used, one muffler could be omitted, and the effect of being advantageous in terms of space and cost could be added.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a systematic piping diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing an example of a flow control valve used in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a state different from that shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an example of a muffler used in the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1A, 1B Adsorption container 1a, 1b Air supply side of adsorption container a Nitrogen gas adsorbent 2 Compressor 3 Flow control valve 4, 4A Silencer

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A compressor 2 is connected to two adsorption vessels 1A and 1B filled with a nitrogen gas adsorbent through a plurality of solenoid valves.
Compressed air is supplied alternately, and adsorption and desorption regeneration of nitrogen gas are alternately repeated at predetermined time intervals, so that oxygen in the atmosphere is concentrated and supplied for respiration. Each of the adsorption vessels 1A and 1B has a compression capacity slightly larger than the compression capacity.
The excess pressure air generated on the air feed side of the
A respiratory oxygen supply device comprising an exhaust system for dissipating into the atmosphere via a muffler 4 via a muffler. 2. The respiratory oxygen supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the silencer 4 also functions as a silencer for exhausting nitrogen gas generated during desorption and regeneration of the nitrogen gas adsorbent in the two adsorption vessels 1A and 1B.