JPS62139671A - Humidifier and oxygen enriched gas supply apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Field of application of the invention> The present invention is a gas humidifier having a specific structure.

and an oxygen-enriched gas supply device using the humidifier. More specifically, the present invention provides an improved humidifier that provides an appropriate level of humidification and can be used continuously for a long period of time. The present invention also provides an apparatus for supplying oxygen-enriched gas with increased humidity for medical and other respiratory improvement or reinforcement purposes.

<Prior art> Oxygen therapy, which provides oxygen from oxygen cylinders, has traditionally been performed for patients with respiratory diseases, and recently, oxygen therapy has been performed using oxygen-enriched air obtained by concentrating oxygen in the air. As a result of its development, its treatment methods are becoming increasingly popular.

In these oxygen therapies, when gases such as oxygen or oxygen-enriched air are supplied to the patient's nasal cavity, the gas is usually supplied in a humidified state close to the saturated water vapor pressure to prevent the patient's nasal cavity from drying out. Efforts have been made to do so. That is, in the case of oxygen from an oxygen gas cylinder or liquid oxygen, the humidity is too low as it is, so it is supplied to the patient after being humidified, for example, by passing through a bubble type humidifier. In addition, adsorption-type oxygen enrichers and de-type oxygen enrichers are used to obtain oxygen-enriched air, but even in the case of adsorption-type oxygen enrichers, moisture is usually added to the oxygen-enriched air obtained. Enriched air is supplied to the patient, which is humidified using a humidifier because it contains very little.

However, in conventional humidifiers, because the oxygen-enriched air or oxygen is humidified to a humidity close to 100%, the temperature drops in the tube that circulates it to supply it to the user's nasal cavity. This causes problems such as condensation and water droplets, which cause discomfort due to the water droplets entering the user's nasal cavity, and the proliferation of bacteria within the tube. Also, because the amount of water in the humidifier is small, it cannot be used continuously for a long period of time, and the humidifier must be removed and filled with water quite frequently at short intervals, which is a hassle. there were. Furthermore, inside the humidifier,
The noise generated by the generation and destruction of air bubbles is very loud, and this noise often causes pain to users who use the device for long periods of time, night and day, especially patients with weakened physical strength.

<Object of the Invention> The present invention aims to solve these problems. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a humidifier that can perform humidification at an appropriate level and can be used continuously for a long period of time, and an oxygen-enriched gas supply device equipped with the humidifier. Broadly speaking, it is an object of the present invention to provide a humidifier that generates little noise during use, and a low-noise oxygen-enriched gas supply device. Yet another object is to provide an oxygen enriched gas supply device incorporating a humidifier that is easy to install and remove.

<Structure of the Invention> As a result of intensive research to achieve the above object, it was discovered that a humidifier having a core means having a specific structure is very effective, and the present invention was achieved.

That is, the present invention includes a gas inlet, an outlet for the humidified gas, a receiver means that can be filled with water, a loading means, and an opening connected to the gas inlet and an opening in the lower part of the receiver means. a gas humidifier comprising conduit means having a conduit means for substantially confining the region in which the gas bubbles exiting the opening ascend to a portion within the receiver means; A humidifier characterized by housing a core means having an opening in at least a portion;
and an oxygen-enriched gas supply device comprising means for generating an oxygen-enriched gas with higher oxygen concentration and lower humidity than air, a humidifier, and a supply means for supplying the humidified oxygen-enriched gas for use, The humidifier includes an inlet for the oxygen-enriched gas, an outlet for the humidified oxygen-enriched gas, and a receiver means 1M filled with water.

and conduit means connected to the inlet of the oxygen-enriched gas and having an opening at a lower portion within the receiver means, the region in which the bubbles of oxygen-enriched gas exiting the opening ascend. An oxygen-enriched gas supply device, characterized in that it houses a core means that is intended to be substantially limited to a part of the inside of the container means and has an opening in at least a part of its upper part. This is what we provide.

The present invention will be explained in more detail below using the drawings. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a preferred embodiment of the humidifier according to the present invention. That is, the humidifier shown in the figure has a gas inlet 3. Humidified gas outlet 4. water 10
Receiver means 1, lid means 2. An opening 6 consisting of a conduit means 5 connected to the inlet 3 and a number of pores provided at its tip. The main component is a core means 7 which limits the upper back of the bubble 16 to a region 17 and has an upper opening 8 for the passage of the gas.

The core means 7 referred to here is a region 14 in which the air bubbles 1G can rise.
17 does not cover the entire horizontal cross section of the receiver 1, but has the function of substantially limiting it to only a portion thereof. The present invention was achieved by discovering that by setting the horizontal cross-sectional area of the region where bubbles can rise within a certain range, it is possible to control the degree of humidification of gas at a predetermined flow rate. In other words, the horizontal cross-section (
In other words, by adjusting the area of the horizontal surface, appropriate and stable humidification can be achieved.

In addition, it is more preferable to provide an opening 9 in the lower part of the core means so that the inside and outside of the core means communicate with each other. As shown in Figure 1, by filling the outer region of the core means, that is, the region where air bubbles are not dispersed, with a large amount of water, the degree of water reduction due to humidification and the water level being lowered can be reduced for a long period of time. Continuous and extremely stable humidification operation is possible over a period of time. From this point of view, receiver 1
By making the diameter of the upper part larger and the diameter of the lower part smaller, stable connected humidification operation for a longer period of time becomes possible with the same filling drainage.

Regarding the positions of the openings 8 and 9 of the core means mentioned above,
The opening 9 may be located at the upper or lower end as long as it can substantially perform the respective functions, but from the viewpoint of function, the opening 9 is preferably located at the lowermost end. Further, as will be described later, when the core means is porous, the pores may correspond to the respective openings.

Preferably, the movement of the core means is restrained by the lid means and/or the receiver means.

Optionally, it may be fixed to the lid means and/or the receiver means, or by both the lid means 2 and the receiver means 1. In this case, restraint methods include a method in which the core means is positioned above and below or below and installed on the bottom of the receiver, and a method in which it is directly fixed. Furthermore, as a restraining means including fixing if necessary, it is better to install or fix it on the lid means and/or receiver means through a member such as a backing made of a material that does not allow sound to propagate, such as a rubber material, for better sound deadening effect. Very preferred. Further, if the core means can be removed from the receiver means, it is easier to clean and more sanitary.

In general, if the core means is made of a gas-impermeable member and is attached to the upper part of the humidifier and the upper space (which may also include a liquid part) is partitioned into areas 12 and 13, for example, Opening 1 for equalizing the pressure in each partitioned space
1 is preferably provided in a part of the core means.

The core means may have any shape and material as long as it fulfills its function. Its more preferred shape is cylindrical, particularly cylindrical. The region where the bubbles rise can be either inside or outside the core means, but as shown in FIG. 1, the bubbles are generated and coalesced inside the cylindrical core means.

This is a desirable embodiment because it makes it difficult for the sound generated by destruction etc. to be transmitted to anything other than the core means, and the overall sound emitted to the outside is extremely small. Further, the member constituting the core means may be a porous material that does not substantially allow air bubbles to pass through, but it is more practical to use a non-porous material in terms of ease of cleaning. The material of the core means may be any material as long as it maintains its shape, but transparent materials such as glass and plastic are preferred for use, and acrylic resin and polycarbonate are particularly preferred from the viewpoint of ease of molding and breakage. Transparent plastics such as resin, steel resin, and polypropylene resin are preferred.

In addition, the mounting methods for the lid means and receiver means are flange type, screw type, and one-touch fitting type.

Any other type of attachment may be used, but in practice, a screw type or one-touch type fitting type is preferable, and a one-touch type fitting type is particularly convenient.

The oxygen-enriched gas supply device of the present invention includes the above-mentioned humidifier in addition to the oxygen-enriched gas generation means and the supply means for supplying the oxygen-enriched gas. The oxygen-enriched gas generating means is oxygen-enriched air with a higher oxygen concentration than air or a gas mainly composed of oxygen, and the relative humidity at room temperature is, for example, about 50% or less or about 30% or less. A means of generating oxygen-enriched gas with low humidity.

Specific examples include oxygen enrichers that obtain oxygen-enriched air from the air, such as adsorption-type oxygen enrichers, oxygen cylinders, and means that obtain oxygen gas from liquid oxygen. A combination is possible. As described above, the term "oxygen-enriched gas" as used in the present invention means oxygen-enriched air, oxygen gas, or the like.

An adsorption type oxygen enricher uses an adsorbent that has a difference in adsorption capacity for oxygen and nitrogen to obtain 1 q of oxygen-enriched air from the air.At this time, water is also separated and the enriched air is It is necessary to add a further humidifier if the water is dried. Furthermore, when obtaining oxygen gas from an oxygen cylinder, liquid oxygen, etc., it is usually necessary to provide a humidifying system.

As a specific example of an adsorption-type oxygen enricher, which is one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, one or more adsorbent beds filled with an adsorbent that selectively adsorbs nitrogen gas are pressurized. a compressor means for admitting atmospheric air and an enrichment conduit means for extracting oxygen-enriched air from the adsorbent bed and passing it to an outlet, wherein one or more adsorbent beds Examples include pressure fluctuation adsorption type oxygen enrichers that are operated singly or alternately to repeat cycles of pressurization and depressurization. It is preferable that any means for generating oxygen-enriched gas has a means for adjusting the flow of oxygen-enriched air to be used.

Further, the device of the present invention is an oxygen-enriched gas generating means.

Particularly in oxygen enrichers, by attaching the humidifier to the outlet of the obtained oxygen-enriched gas using a one-touch joint, the humidifier can be easily attached and removed, further improving operational operability. be able to.

In general, the supply means for supplying oxygen-enriched gas in the device of the present invention may be of any type, and a specific example thereof is inserting the tip of a thin tube into the cavity.
Examples include force neural format and mask format. Depending on the case, the humidifier may simply have a tube attached to the gas outlet of the humidifier, or it may have a joint to which a cannula or the like can be further attached. That is, the supply means referred to in the present invention refers to conduit means etc. attached to the gas outlet of the humidifier.

The device of the present invention also includes conduit means between the oxygen-enriched gas generation means and the humidifier, and in some cases, the conduit means may be lengthened to position the humidifier in close proximity to the user. However, the conduit means downstream of the humidifier may be shortened to further prevent water droplet formation therein.

<Effects of the Invention> According to the humidifier of the present invention, appropriately humidified gas can be stably obtained continuously for a long period of time. Furthermore, this humidifier has the advantage that the noise generated during humidification operation is very small and is unlikely to become a 1g sound source.

Further, according to the oxygen-enriched gas supply device of the present invention, it is possible to stably supply 1 q of appropriately humidified oxygen-enriched gas continuously for a long period of time, and its operability is good, so the device can be used with confidence. . Furthermore, the humidifier makes little noise during use, and has the advantage that the humidifier can be placed close to the user in some cases.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating one embodiment of a humidifier according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a receiver means, 2 is a lid means, 3 is a gas inlet, 4 is a gas outlet, and 7 is a core means.

Claims (9)

[Claims] (1) having a gas inlet, an outlet for the humidified gas, a receiver means capable of being filled with water, a lid means, and an opening connected to the gas inlet and at a lower portion within the receiver means; a gaseous humidifier comprising conduit means for substantially confining the region in which the gas bubbles exiting the opening rise to a portion of the receiver means; A humidifier characterized by housing a core means having an opening in a part thereof. (2) The core means surrounds at least the opening of the conduit means and the water filling area in the upper part thereof, and has an opening in at least a part of the lower part.
Humidifier as described in section. (3) The humidifier according to claim 1, wherein the core means is substantially restrained in movement by the lid means and/or the receiver means. (4) An upper space within the humidifier is partitioned by the core means, and an opening is provided above the core means to allow the partitioned spaces to communicate with each other. The humidifier described in item 3. (5) The humidifier according to claim 3, wherein the core means is removable from at least the receiving means. (6) The core means is connected to the lid means via a rubber material.
The humidifier according to claim 3, wherein the movement of the humidifier is restricted by the receiver means. (7) An oxygen-enriched gas supply device comprising means for generating an oxygen-enriched gas with higher oxygen concentration and lower humidity than air, a humidifier, and a supply means for supplying the humidified oxygen-enriched gas for use. wherein the humidifier comprises an inlet for the oxygen-enriched gas, an outlet for the humidified oxygen-enriched gas, a receiver means capable of being filled with water, a lid means, and an inlet for the oxygen-enriched gas. conduit means connected to each other and having an opening at a lower portion within the receiver means, substantially confining the region in which the oxygen-enriched gas bubbles exiting the opening rise to a portion within the receiver means; 1. An oxygen-enriched gas supply device, characterized in that the device houses a core means having an opening in at least a part of its upper part. (8) The device according to claim 7, wherein the means for generating the oxygen-enriched gas is at least one of an adsorption-type oxygen enricher, an oxygen cylinder, and an oxygen generator using liquid oxygen. (9) The device according to claim 7, wherein the humidifier is connected to the inlet and/or outlet of the oxygen-enriched gas by a one-touch joint.