KR200185265Y1 - An oxygen concentrator for vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a vehicle DC oxygen concentrator that doubles the safety by making it possible to use in a vehicle as well as connecting two integrated beds in parallel to supply oxygen even in one failure.

The present invention not only eliminates the trouble of carrying or filling oxygen tanks when applied to an ambulance, but also can supply oxygen to several patients at the same time, so that the patient can be safely transported to the hospital. have. In particular, the device is applied to a fire truck, it is possible to provide a rapid oxygen supply to many asphyxiated patients in the case of fire, which is expected to make a great contribution to the life saving, and can also be used to fill the air tank of firefighters. In addition, the oxygen can be charged and stored in a pressurized state in a separate container from the device has the advantage that it can be used in any place that requires oxygen charging as well as divers. Due to the above advantages, this device can ensure high safety and reliability, and thus is effective for emergency ambulances, fire engines, etc., as well as for live transport trucks, divers air tanks, or wastewater treatment plants or farms. It can be used for the back, and its use is expected to be very wide.

Description

DC oxygen concentrator for vehicles {An oxygen concentrator for vehicles}

The present invention relates to a general-purpose livestock concentrator that can be used for medical or industrial purposes. Especially, it can be used in a vehicle and doubles safety by connecting two integrated beds in parallel to supply oxygen even in one failure. A vehicle direct current oxygen concentrator.

In general, the oxygen concentrator is a device for separating and concentrating oxygen in the atmosphere, and is currently concentrating oxygen by using general electric power of AC. Therefore, it is usually used for home use, the operation principle of such an oxygen concentrator utilizes the property that an adsorbent called zeolite adsorbs predetermined gas molecules. Nitrogen, which occupies about 80% of the atmosphere, is better adsorbed to the zeolite than oxygen, so when the air is introduced into the adsorption bed filled with the adsorbent, the nitrogen is adsorbed, and the nitrogen-reduced gas is discharged to the outlet of the upper bed. The main component of the gas thus released is oxygen.

The above nitrogen adsorption process is a process in which only nitrogen is adsorbed by passing a pressurized gas through a predetermined adsorbent and the remaining gas is passed to separate oxygen from the air. Should be removed (removed) from it to restore its original performance. In this process, some of the gas passing through the adsorbent gas adsorbed by the adsorbent is recycled and desorbed at low pressure to restore the adsorbent to recover the adsorbent capacity.

Conventional known oxygen concentrators are oxygen concentrators having a simple structure and performance that do not take into account changes in the outflow amount. As such an oxygen concentrating device, there is a gas generating device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-91927. The structure of the oxygen concentrator is divided into four broadly, which is outlined as follows.

The apparatus is composed of an adsorption section for separating nitrogen and oxygen from air, an operation section related to air compression, storage and outflow, a control unit for opening and closing a valve, and a frame section for combining them. The core of this gas generator is to repeat the process of adsorbing the gas by supplying the mixed gas to the adsorption tank filled with the adsorbent as described in the publication, and desorbing the gas adsorbed from the adsorbent from the adsorbent. Oxygen) is obtained at a constant concentration, in which part of the gas required in the adsorption tank is refluxed and used for the desorption process.

In such a gas generator, only oxygen concentration proceeds, so the valve opening and closing cycle operates constantly regardless of the production flow rate. Therefore, if there is a change in the flow rate for the supply of concentrated oxygen, the oxygen purity is not uniform, and the oxygen supply is disproportionately discharged due to the user's arbitrary operation, so that the whole process of the concentration process and oxygen supply does not operate smoothly. I had a problem. In particular, the adsorption tank (bed) that adsorbs nitrogen in the air in this device is composed of a single cylinder, and the adsorption performance is deteriorated, and there is a closed end to increase the volume to overcome this.

However, the oxygen concentrator as described above can be used only under an AC power source such as a home or an office, and ambulances such as ambulance that most need oxygen at present do not use such an oxygen concentrator. Therefore, a mobile vehicle usually carries an oxygen storage tank on a vehicle and uses it in an emergency. In other words, ambulances are currently responding to emergency situations such as mounting a high-pressure tank for oxygen storage in a vehicle and transporting a patient. However, there is a limit to the capacity of the oxygen storage tank, so there is a limitation in patient transportation time, so long-distance emergency transportation is not possible, and there is an inconvenience that must be recharged at any time. In particular, during the recharge time, the vehicle had to be loaded with another oxygen storage tank to transport the patient or to wait for the recharge time.

As mentioned above, the existing medical oxygen concentrator was impossible to use in vehicles by using AC 100 ~ 220V for home use, while the oxygen storage tank is not necessary to develop an oxygen concentrator for vehicles due to the difficulty of use, maintenance and management. It desperately emerged.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks as described above, to be used in a vehicle, as well as to connect the two integrated beds in parallel to supply oxygen in the event of a failure The present invention provides a direct current oxygen concentrator for vehicles that has doubled its safety.

1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle DC oxygen concentrator according to the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view for explaining an oxygen generation process shown by extracting only a portion from FIG.

* Code descriptions for the main parts of the drawings

10a, 10b: 1st, 2nd integrated bed 20a, 20b: 1st, 2nd air compressor

30: main controller 40: main storage tank

41: pressure sensor 50: suction filter

60a, 60b: 1st, 2nd auxiliary storage tank 61a, 61b: check valve

62a, 62b: 1st, 2nd pressure sensor 70a, 70b: 1st, 2nd controller

80: compressor 90: pressure regulator

91: check valve 100: flow meter

In order to achieve the above object, a direct current oxygen concentrator for a vehicle according to the present invention sucks air in the air, separates and concentrates oxygen, and supplies oxygen through an oxygen outlet if necessary. At least one pair of oxygen concentrating to separate and concentrate; A main storage tank for pressurizing and storing oxygen produced and supplied from the oxygen concentrating unit through the oxygen outlet to the subject if necessary; A pressure sensor for measuring oxygen pressure in the main storage tank; And a main controller for driving and supplying oxygen to the oxygen concentrating unit when the oxygen storage amount of the main storage tank is insufficient in response to the signal transmitted from the pressure sensor.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle DC oxygen concentrator according to the present invention, the air flow is shown as a solid line, the sensor signal is indicated by a dashed line, and the control signal is indicated by a dotted line so as to clearly understand the working relationship of the components.

As shown in the drawing, the oxygen concentrator is divided into a plurality of first and second integrated beds 10a and 10b for filling an adsorbent therein and adsorbing nitrogen from the air to separate oxygen, and the first and second integrations. The first and second air compressors 20a and 20b respectively supply compressed air to the beds 10a and 10b, and the main controller 30 controls all these systems. In addition, the main storage tank 40 is also provided to store the oxygen produced by the first and second integrated beds (10a, 10b) and to supply to the required object at a constant pressure. Of course, these are combined into a frame (not shown) to form a single body. More detailed description of the above components is as follows.

Clean air is supplied to the first and second air compressors 20a and 20b through the suction filter 50. The first and second air compressors 20a and 20b are connected to supply compressed air to the first and second integrated beds 10a and 10b, respectively. In addition, the first and second integrated beds 10a and 10b are further provided with first and second auxiliary storage tanks 60a and 60b for temporarily collecting oxygen generated in the respective integrated beds. The first and second auxiliary storage tanks 60a and 60b are provided with check valves 61a and 61b, respectively. These check valves (61a, 61b) is a valve for controlling the flow of gas in only one direction to control the movement of oxygen from the auxiliary storage tank (60a, 60b) to the main storage tank (40). In addition, the first and second auxiliary storage tanks 60a and 60b are provided with first and second pressure sensors 62a and 62b, respectively, to detect pressure in each tank at any time. The pressure values detected by the first and second pressure sensors 62a and 62b are input to the first and second controllers 70a and 70b and used as information for on / off control of the integrated bed. The first and second controllers 70a and 70b receive an operation signal from the main controller 30 to periodically operate the air compressor and the internal valves to control the air flow of the first and second integrated beds 10a and 10b. do.

The first air compressor 20a, the first integrated bed 10a, the first auxiliary storage tank 60a, and the first controller 70a form a first oxygen enrichment unit and pass oxygen through a series of components. Production is concentrated. Of course, the second air compressor 20b, the second integrated bed 10b, the second storage tank 60b, and the second controller 70b also constitute the second oxygen concentration unit. As such, the system is composed of two first and second oxygen concentrators to improve safety and oxygen production output. Therefore, the system can be operated at the same time to increase the production output. When this occurs, it operates another oxygen concentrating unit to secure a very stable system that can produce oxygen smoothly even in an emergency.

Oxygen output from the first and second oxygen concentration units described above is sent to the main storage tank 40 by the compressor 80 and stored under pressure. The stored oxygen is supplied to the patient in need of oxygen via the pressure regulator 90 and the flow meter 100. At this time, the pressure regulator 90 adjusts the oxygen supplied to the patient through the flow meter 100 to a specified pressure (suction pressure) or less to enable the patient to safely use, as well as having an antibacterial filter and the user inhales the air. The bacteria are filtered before inhalation to inhale fresh oxygen that has been treated with antibacterial treatment. A check valve 91 is provided between the pressure regulator 90 and the flowmeter 100. In particular, the main storage tank 40 has a pressure sensor 41 is installed to measure the pressure inside the main storage tank 40 and transmits to the main controller 30. Based on this, if the oxygen pressure of the main storage tank 40 is low, that is, the oxygen storage amount is insufficient, the main controller 30 controls the integrated bed (10a, 10b) to concentrate the oxygen to the main storage tank 40 Since the main storage tank 40 is always supplied to maintain a certain amount of oxygen.

The apparatus also includes a silencer 110 to reduce noise generated by the pressure difference with the surrounding atmosphere when exhausting nitrogen generated in the process of concentrating oxygen in the first and second integrated beds 10a and 10b. Equipped with. Since the gas component discharged from the muffler 110 occupies most of the nitrogen, the oxygen concentration produced in the integrated bed decreases when it is re-introduced into the integrated bed, so that the muffler 110 is separated from the suction filter 50 of the air compressor. Fresh air is sucked into the air compressors 20a and 20b.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating only the first oxygen enrichment unit in FIG. 1, and the structure of the first and second oxygen enrichment units is the same, and thus, the part disclosed in this drawing may be viewed as a structure of the second oxygen enrichment unit. Here, the integrated bed is composed of an inner bed and an outer bed disposed on a concentric circle and the applicant will file the same as the detailed description of the structure will be omitted. Now, the drawing will be described in more detail with respect to the oxygen production concentration process as an example.

The compressed air sent out from the air compressor 20 is supplied through the connection port 12 connected to the inner bed 11 by the first solenoid valve 120. The first solenoid valve 120 switches the first position 121 and the second position 122 by a constant cycle. When the first solenoid valve 120 is in the first position 121, the compressed air is supplied to the inner bed 11. Will be. The compressed air supplied to the inner bed 11 is adsorbed to the zeolite 13, which is nitrogen adsorbent, and only oxygen is supplied to and stored in the auxiliary storage tank 60 through the upper check valve 14. At this time, a portion of the oxygen sent to the secondary storage tank 60 flows from the inner bed 11 to the outer bed 16 through the orifice 15 to activate the zeolite 17 toward the outer bed 16. . Oxygen stored in the auxiliary storage tank 60 is processed to have a predetermined pressure and purity through the pressure regulator 90 and the flow meter 100 and then supplied to the required object (patient) through the oxygen outlet 101.

When nitrogen is adsorbed to the zeolite 13 of the inner bed 11 and the efficiency decreases, the first solenoid valve 120 is switched to supply the compressed air of the air compressor 20 to the outer bed 16. Then, the zeolite 17 absorbs nitrogen to produce oxygen in the outer bed 16 and stores the oxygen in the auxiliary storage tank 60 through the check valve 18, when necessary, the pressure regulator 90 and the flow meter 100. Via the oxygen outlet 101 to enable the necessary emergency patients and the like. Of course, a certain amount of oxygen produced in the outer bed 16 through the orifice 15 is sent to the inner bed 11 to clean the zeolite 13 of the inner bed 11 to remove nitrogen from the zeolite 13 to activate it. Let's go. The nitrogen separated from the zeolite 13 is sent to the second solenoid valve 130 via the first solenoid valve 120 is discharged through the silencer 110.

Now, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to conducting surfaces for the process of producing oxygen in a vehicle.

When the device is operated, the main controller 30 reads the oxygen pressure therein from the pressure sensor 41 installed in the main storage tank 40 to determine whether to produce oxygen. At this time, when the oxygen in the main storage tank 40 is insufficient, the main controller 30 sends a drive signal to the first controller (70a). Then, the first controller 70a operates the first air compressor 20a to inhale the surrounding air to produce compressed air and send it to the first integrated bed 10a. At this time, the air flowing into the first air compressor 20a is filtered and supplied through the suction filter 50. Compressed air supplied from the first air compressor 20a into the first integrated bed 10a is adsorbed to the zeolites 13 and 17, which are adsorbents packed in the integrated bed, to separate oxygen. The oxygen separated in this way is temporarily stored in the first auxiliary storage tank (60a) provided on the upper end of the first integrated bed (10a), and then the main storage tank 40 by the compressor 80 via the check valve (61a) To be stored under pressure. At this time, the main controller 30 drives the first oxygen concentration unit while grasping the internal pressure from the pressure sensor 41 installed in the main storage tank 40, and the pressure reaches a predetermined value in the main storage tank 40. By sending an operation stop signal to the first controller 70a to stop the driving of the first oxygen concentration unit.

On the other hand, when the pressure of the main storage tank 40 falls below the reference value and the pressure in the first auxiliary storage tank 60a measured from the first pressure sensor 62a is lowered even when the first oxygen concentration unit is operated, the first pressure is reduced. This is a case where oxygen production amount of oxygen concentration part is insufficient. In this case, since a large amount of output oxygen is required, the main controller 40 sends a driving signal to the second controller 70b to operate the second oxygen enrichment unit to produce and discharge oxygen simultaneously with the first oxygen enrichment unit. Therefore, the oxygen production output is doubled, so that a large consumption can be used when necessary.

The oxygen produced and stored under pressure in the main storage tank 40 is used through the oxygen discharge port 101 when necessary. In this case, the pressure regulator 90 has a pressure within the main storage tank 40 at a user's ease of use. At the same time, the oxygen pressure is reduced and sent out, and bacteria are filtered through the antibacterial filter inside to supply safe and fresh air to the user.

In particular, the device is capable of producing oxygen using the second oxygen concentrator even when the first oxygen concentrator is inoperable, that is, a failure, thereby ensuring a stable oxygen supply and building a safe system that can cope with emergencies. In addition, the present invention controls the individual sub-controllers (70a, 70b) installed in each of the oxygen concentrator in the main controller 40 to drive the oxygen concentrator, so that stable operation is possible even by configuring a plurality of oxygen concentrators At the same time, a system can be constructed that can produce and concentrate large amounts of oxygen.

As described above, the vehicular direct current oxygen concentrator of the present invention can be used in a vehicle, and also has two advantages in that safety is secured by connecting two integrated beds in parallel to supply oxygen even in a single failure. . In addition, the bed is arranged in a bed in a concentric circle to have a double structure, which has the advantage of reducing the size and weight and obtaining a high amount of oxygen. The present invention, when applied to an ambulance, can eliminate the hassle of carrying or filling an oxygen tank, and can supply oxygen to several patients at the same time, so that the patient can be transported to the hospital quickly and safely. . In particular, the device is applied to a fire truck, it is possible to provide a rapid oxygen supply to many asphyxiated patients in the case of fire, which is expected to make a great contribution to the life saving, and can also be used to fill the air tank of firefighters. In addition, the oxygen can be charged and stored in a pressurized state in a separate container from the device has the advantage that it can be used anywhere, as well as divers need oxygen charging.

Due to the above advantages, this device can ensure high safety and reliability, and thus is effective for emergency ambulances, fire trucks, etc., as well as for live transport trucks, diver air tanks, or wastewater treatment plants or farms. It can be used for the back, and its use is expected to be very wide.

Claims (5)

In the oxygen concentrator which sucks air in the atmosphere and separates and concentrates oxygen and supplies it through an oxygen outlet, if necessary, At least a pair of oxygen concentrators for adsorbing nitrogen in the inhaled air to separate and concentrate oxygen; A main storage tank for pressurizing and storing oxygen produced and supplied from the oxygen concentrating unit through the oxygen outlet to the subject if necessary; A pressure sensor for measuring oxygen pressure in the main storage tank; And Receiving a signal transmitted from the pressure sensor oxygen storage in the main storage tank lacks a direct current oxygen concentrator for a vehicle comprising a main controller for producing and supplying oxygen by driving the oxygen concentrating unit. The oxygen concentrating unit according to claim 1, wherein the oxygen concentrating unit includes an intake filter for filtering air, an air compressor for compressing and supplying the filtered air, and an adsorbent therein and adsorbs nitrogen from compressed air from the air compressor. DC oxygen concentrator for a vehicle characterized in that it comprises an integrated bed for separate production, and an auxiliary storage tank for storing the oxygen produced from the integrated bed. According to claim 2, wherein the oxygen enrichment unit is a DC direct current oxygen, characterized in that composed of the first and second oxygen enrichment unit which is two pairs are periodically controlled by the main controller periodically or simultaneously to separate and produce oxygen from the air. Thickener. According to claim 2 or 3, wherein the oxygen concentrating unit receives a control signal from the main controller and the controller for driving the air compressor and the integrated bed, and measures the oxygen pressure of the auxiliary storage tank and transmits to the controller DC oxygen concentrator for a vehicle further comprising a pressure sensor. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising an antibacterial filter and a pressure regulator between the main storage tank and the oxygen discharge port to filter bacteria and control oxygen pressure to supply fresh oxygen to a user at a constant pressure. DC oxygen concentrator.