JPH0653177B2 - Gas humidifier - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a gas humidifier for gas inhalation therapy in which the relative humidity of the gas discharged from the humidifier can be adjusted.

[Conventional technology]

The medical gas used for respiratory treatment includes oxygen gas, for example. As the oxygen gas, there are one filled in a cylinder and one used by concentrating the oxygen gas in the air by an oxygen concentrator. Since the oxygen gas from the oxygen cylinder and the oxygen gas from the oxygen concentrator of some kind are dry,
If inhaled as it is, the mucous membrane in the nostrils and the throat will be dried, and there is a strong possibility of causing inflammation, so a humidifier is used to humidify the gas.

Conventionally used as such a humidifier is shown in FIG. 6, which penetrates the upper end surface of the humidifier main body container 2 made of transparent plastic or the like and forms an L-shape near the bottom surface of the container. A gas introducing pipe 4 having a bubble generating portion 3 having a large number of pores at its bent tip is introduced, and a gas outlet pipe 5 having a tube 6 fitted on the tip is provided near the upper end of the side surface of the main body container 2. Distilled water as a humidifying liquid so that a space 7 for retaining gas is secured in the upper portion of the main body container 2 so that the water surface is above the bubble generating portion 3 at the tip of the gas introducing pipe 4. 8 is put in and the dry gas introduced from the gas inlet 9 through the gas inlet pipe 4 is dispersed and passed into water to be humidified, and as a moisturizing body, the gas outlet 10 of the gas outlet pipe 5 is passed through the tube 6 to a desired location. To be sent to.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the case of a conventional humidifier, the humidity of the gas that passes through the gas inlet pipe, passes through the bubble generating part in the water that is the humidifying part, and becomes dispersed as bubbles in the water is 100% relative humidity. If a long tube is attached to the tube and the tube is exposed to the outside air in a cold room while the gas is being sent to the intended location, it will be cooled and condensation will form in the tube as water droplets, which will hinder gas delivery. There was a problem of coming.

In view of such problems of the conventional humidifier, the present invention enables adjustment of the relative humidity of the gas led out from the humidifier, so that a long tube is attached to the humidifier for use, and the gas To provide a gas humidifier that does not hinder the delivery of gas even if the tube on the way to the place is exposed to the outside air of a cold room and is cooled, but it will condense inside the tube and become water droplets and remain. The purpose is.

[Means for solving problems]

A gas humidifier according to the present invention fills a humidifying liquid in a main body container to form a humidifying part and a space part, and a gas introducing pipe introduced from outside the container is inserted into the humidifying part in the main body container. Then, the tip is immersed in the humidifying part, and a diversion means and a diversion flow adjusting means for diverting the dry gas for humidity adjustment from the gas introduction pipe to the space part are provided, and the dry gas and the humidifying body are provided in the space part. And the relative humidity of the gas discharged from the main body container is adjusted.

[Action]

The gas humidifier according to the present invention, by adjusting the partial flow rate adjusting means of the dry gas dividing means provided in the gas introduction pipe of the humidifier, to adjust the introduction amount of the dry gas to the humidification part and the space part, By adjusting the mixing ratio of the dry gas and the humidifying body mixed in the retention space in the humidifying main body container, the relative humidity of the gas discharged from the humidifier can be adjusted.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be described in detail below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is one of the embodiments of the gas humidifier according to the present invention.

The gas humidifier 1 penetrates the upper end surface of the humidifier main body container 2 made of transparent plastic or the like, and has a bubble generating portion 3 having a large number of pores at the tip bent into an L shape near the bottom surface of the container. A tube 4 is introduced, and a gas outlet tube 5 having a tube 6 fitted on the tip is provided in the vicinity of the upper end of the side surface of the container main body 2.
Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the gas introducing pipe 4 has a bottom surface 11-a whose surface is the bottom hole 11-a when the container body 2 is filled with a necessary amount of a humidifying liquid such as distilled water 8 as a humidifying portion, for example, 200 cc. It should be located at the top and of a suitable size, for example 0.
9 mmφ holes 11 are formed at appropriate intervals, for example, 5 mm intervals to form gas flow dividing holes as a flow dividing means, and the gas introducing pipe 4 is made of an elastic member such as rubber that closes the gas dividing holes 11 The masking tube 12 is fitted so as to be slidable.

Humidification of gas by the gas humidifier is performed as follows.

First, if you do not need to adjust the relative humidity of the humidifier,
Gas distribution hole 11 which is a distribution means provided in gas introduction pipe 4
In the state where the gas is completely blocked by the masking tube 12 which is a flow rate adjusting means, the dry gas that has entered from the gas inlet 9 of the gas introduction pipe 4 is not diverted and all the bubbles having a large number of pores are generated from the gas introduction pipe 4. Disperse into water which is a humidification part through part 3. The dry gas that passed through the water while generating bubbles was almost
It is humidified by a gas having a relative humidity of nearly 100%, reaches a water-free gas retention space 7, and is passed from a gas outlet 10 of a gas outlet pipe 5 through a tube 6 to a target position.

Next, if you need to adjust the relative humidity of the humidifier,
For example, when the tube 6 for sending the humidifying body from the humidifier 1 to the destination passes through a place where the temperature is lower than the place where the humidifier 1 is located, the gas diversion hole 11 which is the diversion means provided in the gas introduction pipe 4 is closed. The gas distribution hole 11 is opened by vertically sliding the masking tube 12 which is a means for adjusting the minute flow rate. In this case, the dry gas flowing in from the gas inlet 9 is the same as in the above case, and the bubble generating part 3 in the water is generated.
Through the water, which is a humidifying part, while generating bubbles, and is humidified by a gas having a relative humidity of almost 100%, and reaches the gas retention space 7. At the same time, a part of the dry gas that has entered from the gas inlet 9 passes through the hole 11 which is not blocked by the masking tube 12 which is the flow dividing flow adjusting means of the gas dividing hole 11 which is the flow dividing means provided in the gas introduction pipe 4. It passes through the gas retention space 7 directly, passes through water and is mixed with the gas humidified to a relative humidity of about 100% in the gas retention space 7. From the gas outlet 10 of the gas outlet pipe 5, a humidified body with a low relative humidity is fed into the tube 6.
Will be sent to the desired place. The humidifier whose relative humidity has been lowered in this way is condensate in the tube 6 and remains as a water drop even if the outside air temperature in the middle of the tube 6 is lower than the temperature of the place where the humidifier 1 is present, and the gas is delivered. It does not hurt.

As described above, if the gas humidifier 1 of the present embodiment is used, the long tube 6 is attached to the humidifier 1, and the outside temperature of the tube 6 in the middle of sending the humidifying body to the target location is equal to that of the humidifying location 1. Gas introduction pipe 4 even when passing through a place below the temperature
By directly sliding the masking tube 12 as a flow rate adjusting means for closing the hole 11 up and down to increase or decrease the number of openings of the gas flow dividing hole 11 provided in the gas introducing pipe 4. The partial flow rates of the dry gas that escapes into the space 7 and the dry gas that passes through the gas introducing pipe 4 and the bubble generating portion 3 having a large number of pores in water are adjusted to adjust the gas retention space 7
By changing the mixing ratio of the dry gas mixed with the humidifying body humidified to a relative humidity of almost 100%, the humidifying body of the humidifying body sent from the gas outlet 10 of the gas outlet pipe 5 through the tube 6 to the target location is changed. By adjusting the relative humidity, it is possible to prevent dew condensation in the tube 6 and to prevent the humidified body from being fed.

Using this humidifier 1, the gas distribution hole 11 which is a flow dividing means.
The number of was increased or decreased by sliding the masking tube 12 as a flow rate adjusting means up and down, and the humidity condition of the gas to be discharged was examined.

As shown in FIG. 3, the measuring method is as shown in FIG. 3, in which the humidity sensor 14 from the humidity measuring device 13 is attached to the gas retention space 7 of the humidifier 1, and the dry gas is supplied from the gas supplying device 15 to While sequentially opening the gas distribution holes 11 in the masked state by the masking tube 12 of the gas introduction pipe 4, the gas humidity and temperature of the gas retention space 7 in the humidifier 1 at that time were measured. The measured value took 20 minutes after the start of the measurement, in consideration of the time until the humidity condition becomes stable. The room temperature is 19 ° C-22 ° C.

The measurement results are shown in Table 1. FIG. 7 is a graph of the measurement results.

From this result, it is understood that the humidity of the gas discharged from the humidifier 1 can be arbitrarily changed by changing the number of the gas distribution holes 11 opened in the gas introduction pipe 4 of the humidifier.

In this measurement situation, the humidity is 94% and the temperature is 22 ° C. when the gas distribution holes 11 are all closed. On the other hand, the room temperature was 19 ° C in the low place, so use a tube 6 in the humidifier.
When a part of the tube 6 is placed in a place where the temperature is low, that is, a place where the temperature is 19 ° C. in this case, dew condensation occurs and water drops collect in that part, but the gas distribution hole 11 provided in the gas introduction pipe 4 Since the humidity of the derived gas can be reduced by opening the valve, until the condensation does not occur at 19 ° C, that is, the relative humidity becomes 100% or less at 19 ° C and the relative humidity becomes 83% or less at 22 ° C inside the humidifier. Condensation can be prevented by opening two holes 11 to reduce the humidity and use.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the gas humidifier according to the present invention.

Here, as a means for branching the dry gas from the gas introduction pipe of the gas humidifier 1 ′ to the gas retention space 7 in the humidification main body container 2, the gas retention space 7 in the humidification main body container 2 of the gas introduction pipe 4 is used.
The cut end is cut off to separate both open ends 16 and 1 of the cut part.
6 is connected by a cylindrical body 17 made of a material capable of passing gas and having pores slidably fitted in the opening of the gas introduction tube 4 is used as the flow dividing means.

Further, as the minute flow rate adjusting means, since the cylindrical body 17 having the pores can pass a part of the dry gas passing through the cylindrical body 17 to the outside of the cylinder through the pores, the upper and lower gas introduction pipes 4 , 4
By sliding up and down, the upper and lower gas inlet pipe open ends 16,1
The amount of dry gas that escapes into the gas retention space 7 can be adjusted by changing the distance between 6 and increasing or decreasing the exposed area of the cylindrical body 17 having pores with respect to the gas retention space 7. In this way, by changing the mixing ratio of the dry gas that directly escapes to the gas retention space 7 and the humidifying body that reaches the gas retention space 7 after passing through the water that is the humidifying section, the humidifying body of the humidifier 1 ' The relative humidity can be adjusted.

The one shown in FIG. 5 is also one of the embodiments of the gas humidifier according to the present invention.

The gas humidifier 1'of the embodiment is a bypass pipe penetrating the side surface of a portion of the humidifier main container 2 corresponding to the gas retention space 7 from a position outside the humidification main container 2 of the gas introduction pipe 4 of the humidifier 1 '.
18 is provided as a flow dividing means, and a flow rate control valve 19 is provided in the middle of the bypass pipe 18 as a flow dividing means, and the gas in the humidifying main body container 2 passes through the bypass pipe 18 which is the flow dividing means. The amount of the dry gas sent to the retention space 7 can be adjusted by adjusting the flow rate adjusting valve 19 as the partial flow rate adjusting means, so that the mixing ratio of the dry gas and the humidifying body in the humidifying main body container 2 can be arbitrarily changed. The gas having the target relative humidity can be discharged from the humidifier.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the gas humidifier according to the present invention fills the main body container with the moistening liquid to form the humidifying part and the space part, and the humidifying part inside the main body container is provided with the gas introduced from outside the container. The tube is inserted, the tip is immersed in the humidifying section, and a dividing means and a dividing flow rate adjusting means for dividing the dry gas for adjusting the humidity from the gas introducing tube into the space are provided, and the dry gas and the humidifying body are provided. Is mixed in the space, and the relative humidity of the gas discharged from the main body container can be adjusted.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of an embodiment of a gas humidifier according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing a gas distribution hole portion of a ventilation body introducing pipe, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a humidity measuring method. FIG. 4 is a sectional explanatory view of another embodiment, FIG. 5 is a sectional explanatory view of another embodiment, FIG. 6 is a sectional explanatory view of a conventional humidifier, and FIG. 7 is a graph showing a humidity measurement result. ,. 1: Gas humidifier, 2: Main body container, 3: Bubble generation part, 4: Gas introduction pipe, 5: Gas derivation pipe, 6: Tube, 7: Space, 8: Distilled water, 9: Gas inlet, 10: Gas Outlet, 11: hole, 11-a: lowest hole, 12: masking tube, 13: humidity meter, 14: humidity sensor, 15: gas supply device, 16: open end, 17: cylindrical body, 18 : Bypass pipe, 19: Flow control valve.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A main body container is filled with a humidifying liquid to form a humidifying part and a space part. A gas introducing pipe introduced from the outside of the container is inserted into the humidifying part in the main body container, and the tip is While being immersed in the humidifying part, a diversion means and a diversion flow rate adjusting means for diverting the dry gas for humidity adjustment from the gas introduction pipe to the space part are provided, and the dry gas and the humidifying body are mixed in the space part. ,
A gas humidifier that adjusts the relative humidity of the gas discharged from the main body container.