JP4137805B2 - Oxygen concentrator using a rotary valve - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an oxygen concentrator using a rotary valve, and more specifically, air is brought into contact with an adsorption medium filled in an adsorption cylinder, and nitrogen in the air is adsorbed to the adsorption medium to remove oxygen. The present invention relates to an oxygen concentrator using a rotary valve for producing a concentrated gas.

  Conventionally, two adsorption cylinders filled with a nitrogen adsorption medium made of synthetic zeolite or the like have been used as an oxygen concentrator for producing oxygen enriched gas by removing nitrogen contained in the air, and one of the adsorption cylinders is compressed air. The oxygen adsorption gas is continuously generated by switching the adsorption process for generating oxygen-enriched gas and the depressurization process for desorbing nitrogen by opening the inside of the other adsorption cylinder to the atmosphere. Obtaining devices are in practical use.

  In this case, both of the adsorption cylinders have an air supply line for supplying air at a predetermined pressure, a gas extraction line for taking out oxygen-enriched gas, and an inside of the adsorption cylinder with the air supply cut off. A desorption gas discharge pipe that is open to the atmosphere is connected, and a number of solenoid valves are used to switch the two adsorption cylinders between the adsorption process and the decompression process at a predetermined cycle. These solenoid valves are controlled in a complicated manner by timers, relays, sequencers, etc. In addition, many electrical connections and piping joints are required, repair and maintenance are extremely difficult, and many man-hours are required for assembly. In addition, when the solenoid valve is opened and closed, sudden air rushing into the adsorption cylinder and rapid exhaust occur, which causes pulverization of the adsorbent and noise. Moreover, since the discharge amount of the compressor of an air supply source changes with the difference in frequency, it is necessary to change the control time of a solenoid valve group.

Therefore, a prior art that does not require such changes in control time has been proposed (see Patent Document 1). This is a cam group in which a plurality of cam drive valves are arranged in a line in a common valve housing case, and these cam drive valves are attached to a common rotating shaft and rotate integrally with each other. To be driven by.
JP 11-192410 A

  However, the cam drive valve constituting the process switching mechanism described above has a valve body individually, and each of them independently exerts a valve function. Therefore, the number of parts is large and the structure is complicated. In addition, the problem of noise has not been sufficiently solved.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an oxygen concentrator using a rotary valve that can reduce the number of parts, simplify the configuration, and reduce noise. It is what.

To achieve the above object, the oxygen concentrator using a rotary valve of the present invention includes a Rotary valve, and a plurality of adsorption column adsorption medium is accommodated adsorbing nitrogen, said rotary valve, the valve A valve chamber that communicates with the outside of the valve box is formed in the box, and a fixed seat and a valve body that slides and rotates on the fixed seat are disposed in the valve chamber. At several locations on the same circumference apart, there are through-holes that lead to the outside of the valve box. The valve body has a semi-circular protrusion at the center, and the diameter line is aligned between both ends of the protrusion and the periphery. An end edge is formed, and a recess is formed on the sliding surface side of the valve body to communicate with one of a plurality of through holes on the same circumference as the through hole at the center of the seat, and is formed around this recess. Of the sliding surfaces, the through-holes on the same circumference are opened and closed with the sliding surfaces from the recess to the both edges of the valve body. To, the coupling being connected to an external rotary drive shaft, rotatably supported on the valve body, and has a configuration that is coupled to the valve center under bias of the spring to the coupling, each adsorption column There are connected to the plurality of through holes on the same circumference of the fixed seat of the rotary valve, by rotation of the valve body of the rotary valve, the upper air valve box outside of the rotary valve is Kibenshitsu In addition, the oxygen is supplied to one adsorption cylinder through a single hole on the same circumference of the fixed sheet, and the oxygen in the supplied air is adsorbed by the one adsorption cylinder to extract the concentrated oxygen. together and, other adsorption cylinder air other hole and through the recess provided in the upper Kiben body above Symbol central through hole from the valve of fixed sheet on the same circumference of the fixing seat It is exhausted to the outside of the box so that the other adsorption cylinder is depressurized A configuration that are me.

  That is, in the oxygen concentrator using the rotary valve of the present invention, the thrust that is pressed against the sliding surface with the fixed sheet acts on the valve body by the air pressure supplied to the valve chamber from the compressed air supply source, and the cup Combined with the biasing force of the spring from the ring side, it improves the sealing performance. An adsorption step is performed in which compressed air is supplied to the adsorption cylinder from the through-holes on the same circumference of the sheet opened to the valve chamber by the rotation of the valve body and adsorbs nitrogen on the adsorption medium. On the other hand, a decompression step is performed in which air in the adsorption cylinder is exhausted from the through hole in the center of the sheet through the recess from the through hole on the same circumference of the sheet opened to the recess under the valve body.

  Thus, as the rotary valve rotates, the through-holes on the same circumference of the sheet are gradually opened and gradually closed, so that a sudden supply of compressed air to the adsorption cylinder and an abrupt supply from the adsorption cylinder are performed. There is an effect that smooth exhaustion is not generated, smooth pressure transition is performed, the adsorption medium is not swung in the adsorption cylinder, and exhaust noise is reduced. Further, since the two through holes on the same circumference of the sheets distributed to the plurality of suction cylinders are opened and closed simultaneously by the rotation of the valve body, they are communicated into the valve chamber. The pressure equalization process for transferring the pressure from the adsorption cylinder after completion of the decompression process to the adsorption cylinder after completion of the pressure reduction process occurs, and this pressure equalization process occurs twice during one rotation of the valve body to reduce the pressure fluctuation of the oxygen-enriched gas. In addition, there is an effect of reducing noise during decompression exhaust.

  In the oxygen concentrator using the rotary valve of the present invention, the alternate switching between the adsorption step and the decompression step for the adsorption cylinder containing the adsorption medium of the oxygen concentrator is appropriately performed by the rotation of the valve body in the valve chamber. As the valve configuration, the number of parts can be reduced and the structure can be simplified. The electrical wiring requires only two wires and a minimum of piping, facilitating maintenance. Moreover, since the sealing performance between the valve body and the fixed seat is enhanced by the air pressure supplied to the valve chamber, the oxygen concentrator can be enlarged. Furthermore, since the pressure equalization process occurs in the pressure transition from the adsorption cylinder that has completed the adsorption process to the adsorption cylinder that has completed the depressurization process due to the rotation of the valve body, the pressure fluctuation of the oxygen-enriched gas is reduced, Noise can also be reduced.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an oxygen concentrator using a rotary valve according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the rotary valve, FIG. 3 is a plan view of a fixed sheet, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of a valve body.

  FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an oxygen concentrator using the rotary valve of the present invention. The rotary valve A in this oxygen concentrator is assembled so that a dedicated motor A ′ can rotate. A compressed air supply source (not shown) is connected to the valve chamber 3 (see FIG. 2) of the rotary valve A through a through hole 4. One end of suction cylinders B and C containing two suction media are connected to the through holes 8 and 9 on the same circumference of the fixed sheet 5 (see FIG. 2) via pipes. The through hole 7 at the center of the fixed sheet 5 is an exhaust port to which the silencer D is connected. A fixed orifice E is connected to the other ends of the two adsorbent housing cylinders B and C, and oxygen-enriched gas is taken out through the fixed orifice E.

  The rotary valve A will be described in more detail. As shown in FIG. 2, the valve box 1 of the rotary valve A can be divided into an upper half 1a and a lower half 1b. The half body 1 b is coupled via an O-ring 2 to form a valve chamber 3 in the valve box 1.

  The valve chamber 3 communicates with the outside of the valve box 1 through a through hole 4, and a fixed sheet 5 and a valve body 6 that slides and rotates on the fixed sheet 5 are arranged in the valve chamber 3. Both the fixed sheet 5 and the valve body 6 are made of a ceramic material, and the sliding surfaces of both are mirror-finished.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the fixed seat 5 has through-holes 7, 8, which are led out of the valve box 1 at two locations facing the center of the seat and on the same circumference of the seat 5 away from the seat center. 9 is provided. In the embodiment, the O-ring 10 is interposed in the through-hole connecting portions on the seat side and the valve box side of these through-holes 7, 8 and 9, respectively, to improve the airtightness.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the valve body 6 has a semicircular projecting portion 6a at the center, and an end edge 11 is formed between the both ends of the projecting portion 6a and the peripheral edge in accordance with the diameter line. The entire valve body 6 is formed in a substantially fan shape, and a recess 12 is formed on the sliding surface side of the valve body 6 to communicate with one of the through holes 8 and 9 on the same circumference as the through hole 7 at the center of the seat. The periphery of the recess 12 is used as a sliding surface of the valve body 6, and of these, the through holes 8 and 9 on the same circumference of the seat 5 are opened and closed by the sliding surface 6 b extending from the recess 12 to the edge 11. I am doing so.

  Further, a coupling 13 connected to a drive shaft (not shown) of the motor is coupled to the upper center portion of the valve body 6. The coupling 13 is rotatably supported with respect to the valve box 1 from the valve chamber 3 side through a thrust bearing 14, and the lower end of the coupling 13 is provided at the center of the valve body under the bias of a spring 15. The coupling part 16 is fitted and coupled.

  The operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.

  When the valve body 6 is rotated on the fixed seat 5 by the motor A ′ and is in the position shown in FIG. 5A, the valve body 6 is outside the valve body 6 and is opened through the through hole 8 opened to the valve chamber 3. Compressed air is supplied to the adsorption cylinder B to perform an adsorption process. On the other hand, the air in the adsorption cylinder C is exhausted from the through-hole 7 at the center of the seat through the recess 12 from the through-hole 9 below the valve body 6 and opened to the recess 12 to perform a pressure reducing process.

  When the valve body 6 rotates from this state and reaches the position shown in FIG. 5 (b), the through-holes 8 on the same circumference of the seat 5 are gradually closed, and the other through-hole 9 is on the recess 12 side. The valve body 6 is once closed completely by the sliding surface 6b of the valve body 6, and then gradually separated from the valve body 6 and opened to the valve chamber 3. Here, the two suction cylinders B and C are separated. There is a timing at which the connected through holes 8 and 9 are simultaneously opened and closed, and a pressure equalizing process is performed in which the pressure is transferred from the suction cylinder B that has completed the suction stroke to the suction cylinder C that has completed the pressure reduction process. This pressure equalization process reduces the pressure fluctuation of the concentrated gas, and does not cause sudden air supply or exhaust to the adsorption cylinders B and C, and makes a smooth pressure transition, so that the adsorption in the adsorption cylinders B and C Eliminates medium fluctuation and reduces exhaust noise.

  Subsequently, in a state where the valve body 6 is rotated and is in the position shown in FIG. 5C, compressed air is supplied to the adsorption cylinder C through the through hole 9 which is outside the valve body 6 and opened to the valve chamber 3. The adsorption process is performed. On the other hand, from the through hole 8 under the valve body 6 and opened to the recess 12, the air in the adsorption cylinder B is exhausted from the through hole 7 at the center of the seat through the recess 12 to perform a decompression step. The adsorption process and the decompression process are switched.

  In the above embodiment, the rotary valve configuration for controlling the two adsorption cylinders B and C has been described. In addition to the through holes 8 and 9 on the same circumference provided in the fixed sheet 6, FIG. As described above, when two through holes 8a and 9a are additionally provided at a phase of 90 degrees between the through holes 8 and 9, the four suction cylinders are formed using these four through holes 8, 9, 8a and 9a. Control can be performed with a single rotary valve. Thus, the oxygen generation capacity can be improved, or the volume of the adsorption cylinder containing the adsorption medium can be halved.

It is a schematic block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the oxygen concentrator using the rotary valve of this invention. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the said rotary valve. It is a top view of the fixed sheet | seat which comprises the said rotary valve. It is a top view of the valve body which comprises the said rotary valve. (A), (b), (c) is operation | movement explanatory drawing for demonstrating operation | movement of the said rotary valve. It is a top view of the valve element which constitutes the rotary valve in other embodiments.

Explanation of symbols

1 Valve box 7, 8, 9 Through hole B, C Adsorption cylinder

Claims (1)

Comprising a Rotary valve, and a plurality of adsorption column adsorption medium is accommodated adsorbing nitrogen, the rotary valve is in the valve box to form a valve chamber communicating with the outside the valve body, to the valve chamber, fixed A seat and a valve body that slides and rotates on a fixed seat are arranged, and the seat is provided with a center of the seat and through holes led to the outside of the valve box at a plurality of locations on the same circumference away from the seat center. The valve body has a semi-circular protrusion at the center, and an edge is formed between the both ends and the periphery of the protrusion in accordance with the diameter line. Provided with a recess for communicating with one of a plurality of through-holes on the same circumference as the through-hole, among the sliding surfaces formed around this recess, the sliding surface from the recess to the both ends of the valve body Open and close the through holes on the same circumference, and the coupling connected to the external rotary drive shaft is rotatably supported by the valve box Has become the coupling structure attached to the valve center under urging of the spring, each adsorption column, respectively connected to the plurality of through holes on the same circumference of the fixed seat of the rotary valve It is, by rotation of the valve body of the rotary valve is supplied to an adsorption column through an hole on the same circumference of the valve casing outside air above Kiben chamber and of the fixed seat of the rotary valve The nitrogen in the supplied air is adsorbed by the one adsorption cylinder and the concentrated oxygen is taken out, and the air in the other adsorption cylinder is other than the same circumference of the fixed sheet. that the through hole and the upper Kiben body is exhausted from the through hole in the center of the upper Symbol fixing sheet outside the valve body via a recess provided in that said other adsorption cylinder is adapted to be depressurized Oxygen concentrator using the featured rotary valve.