MX2013014220A - Device for controlling the power supplied to a plate of a humidifying chamber and a tube heating element, and control method. - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for controlling the power supplied to a heating plate of a humidifying chamber and a tube heating element in humidifiers, the device comprising: a switched-mode power supply which receives alternating current and has a first direct-current power output and a second direct-current power output; a first switch which is operatively connected to the first DC power output and to the heating plate; and a second switch which is operatively connected to the second DC power output and to the element for heating a power controller operatively connected to the first switch and to the second switch, the controller determining the power to be supplied to the heating plate and to the heating element so that they can operate at pre-established operating temperatures by means of the opening and closing of said first and second switches.

Description

"POWER CONTROL DEVICE SUPPLIED TO PLATE OF HUMIDIFICATION CHAMBER AND PIPE HEATING ELEMENT.

AND METHOD OF CONTROL " FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the techniques used in the design and manufacture of instruments, equipment and material for medical use, and more particularly relates to a power control device supplied to the humidification chamber plate and the heating element of the device. tube in humidifiers and the control method thereof. Said device having a low consumption of energy, increasing safety and with better performance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In some medical therapies, it is necessary that patients breathe air or a mixture of gases with a certain degree of humidity and heated to a certain temperature, for this, they have occupied humidifiers that basically consist of a humidification chamber placed on a heating plate and containing water, which is heated, the chamber receives air or a mixture of gases from a fan so that once inside the humidifier it is heated and moistened.

The humidified air is brought to the patient through ducts or tubes provided with elements or heating resistors located in or around this duct and thus cause the air to reach the patient in the conditions required, for example, with a relative humidity of 80 to 100% and a typical temperature of 31 to 39 ° C.

For the gases to reach these conditions, the heating elements are generally at a temperature between 10 and 30 ° C higher than the gas temperature, for example, the heating elements can be at temperatures of up to 70 ° C, which makes the canal wall feel hot and this situation is usually perceived by patients and the medical staff that manipulates the humidifiers.

The above also means a higher energy consumption to bring the heating plate and the heating elements of the tube to the required operating temperature and to get the gases in the conditions necessary for the therapy.

In this sense, it is worth mentioning that the traditional way in which power is delivered to the humidifier heating plate is as follows: the heating plate is powered by alternating current (AC) taken directly from the power supply, ie of an electrical outlet of a wall or wall, the power that must be delivered to the plate is controlled by a controller connected to a switch (usually electronic) of the plate, and depending on a pre-set value or set point of the temperature at provide the patient and a sensor that measures the actual temperature of the dish, opens or closes the electronic circuit on the dish, providing it with energy.

For its part, the tube heating element is also supplied with alternating current (AC) but with lower voltage, which is obtained when the alternating current from the public network to a transformer which converts alternating current from high voltage to low voltage alternating current. The use of the transformer generates more weight in the equipment as the main disadvantage. The tube heater is also connected to a switch (usually electronic) and has a temperature sensor connected to the controller, so if the temperature of the heating element needs to be adjusted, the electronic switch opens or closes the circuit so that the energy is applied to the heating element.

As seen from the above, the plate and tube heater are powered by alternating current, one with higher voltage than the other, without so far has made any analysis of this traditional way of feeding those parts of a humidifier that make the water vaporize and the air arrives with the conditions required of the patient.

In fact, the improvements and new developments of the humidifiers focus more on how to modify their elements such as the fan controller, modifying the humidification chamber structure, or how to make the air inside the tube reach the conditions required for the patient.

That is, humidifiers have not been seen from a power supply point of view, and this traditional way of doing so represents as the main disadvantage a greater risk of electric shock to service personnel or to the patient when feeding directly, from the wall electric socket, the heating plate.

Another disadvantage, is related to the temperature control, since it has been seen that there is a high dependence on the line voltage of the alternating current that is received in the dish to effectively control the temperature of the same, in the same way the tube heater also has a dependence on the effectiveness of the control due to the fluctuations of alternating current voltage of the wall outlet.

On the other hand, depending on the country, humidifiers require changes of electronic and electrical components to operate at different voltages, that is, it is required to provide at least one special transformer for each region of the world and consequently meet international operating standards.

As mentioned, up to now there is no device that has tried to supply the energy of the humidification chamber plate and the heating element of the tube in any other way.

In this way, new devices are required that make the power supply in the humidifiers more secure and stable, as well as providing improved control, without changing the configuration of the heating plates and heating elements used in the prior art. .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a power control device supplied to i) the humidification chamber heating plate and i) to the tube heating element of the humidifiers. More particularly, the device of the present invention comprises the following elements: a switched source that receives alternating current and has a first direct current (DC) output and a second direct current output. Additionally, the device also has a first switch operatively connected to the first direct current output and the heating plate. In a similar manner, there is a second switch operatively connected to the second direct current output and to the heating element of the tube.

An important part of the device of the present invention is a power controller operatively connected to the first switch and to the second switch, the controller determines the power that must be delivered to the heating plate and the heating element so that they operate at pre-established operating temperatures by means of the opening or closing of said first and / or second switch.

To know the actual operation of the system, there is a plate temperature sensor to measure its temperature and that is operatively connected to the controller to provide the value of the temperature of the heating plate. A gas temperature sensor is also provided in the humidification chamber and is operatively connected to the controller. In addition, there is a gas temperature sensor supplied to the patient to measure the temperature of said gas and which is operatively connected to the controller.

In the device, the controller receives the values of the temperatures of the plate, the gas in the humidification chamber and the gas supplied to the patient to compare them with preset or set values of said temperatures so that, if there is any difference greater than a threshold , vary the power delivered to the plate and / or the heating element.

In another aspect of the present invention, a power control method is provided to the heating plate and the heating element for supplying power by means of a device as defined above. The method includes as steps: set operating temperatures of the heating plate; of the heating element, of the gases supplied by the humidification chamber and the gases supplied to the patient; performing a starting stage in which the power generated by the switched source is delivered in greater quantity to the heating plate with respect to the heating element; performing a transition stage in which the amount of power delivered to the heating plate is reduced and the power to the tube heater is increased; and performing a stabilization step in which more power is supplied to the tube heater with respect to the power delivered to the heating plate, at this stage the heating plate and the tube heating element reach the operating temperature.

In one embodiment, the above steps are carried out by continuously measuring the temperatures of the heating plate, the gases supplied by the humification chamber and the gases supplied to the patient.

The invention is based on the analysis of the power consumption required by the humidification system, where it has been identified that by performing a differentiated power administration, the energy consumption applied to the dish can be reduced in the first instance, since it is only at the beginning of the operation in where, due to the needs of the therapy, more power is required to generate with greater speed (kinetic) water vapor to humidify the gases, later it is the tube heater who must consume the greatest amount of energy. By means of the device described in the present application, the administration of the power that allows using direct current (DC) and non-alternating current (AC) is carried out as has happened in the prior art.

The present invention, where direct current power (DC) is administered, provides substantial improvements with respect to the prior art since in addition to the power management, direct current management decreases the weight of the equipment, decreases the risk of electric shock, adapts to any line voltage in the world, adapts to any line frequency in the world providing better control for humidification.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES The novel aspects that are considered characteristic of the present invention will be established with particularity in the appended claims. However, the same invention in conjunction with other objects and advantages thereof, will be better understood in the following detailed description of certain preferred embodiments of the invention, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a device that supplies power to the heating plate of a humidification chamber and a tube heater according to the prior art.

Figure 2 is a representative graph of the percentage of power supplied to the tube heater and heater as time passes according to the operation of the prior art.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the control device of the present invention for supplying power to the heating plate of the humidification chamber and to the tube heater, the device being configured according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a diagram of the essential circuits of a switched source as used in the present invention.

Figure 5 is a flow diagram of the method of controlling the power to the heating plate and heating element made by the device of the present invention.

Figure 6 is a graph of the percentage of power supplied to the heating plate and tube heater as time passes according to the operation of the device of the present invention.j.

Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a second preferred embodiment of the device of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED MODALITY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Reference is made to Figure 1 of the drawings to contextualize the way of supplying power according to the prior art, as it is observed, AC power is fed AC, which depending on the region of the world, can be in a range from 110 to 240 Volts and with cycles of 50 to 60 Hz. This current is fed to a switch 3 in connection with the heating plate 6 of the humidification chamber 8 which receives a mixture of gases, which are left conditioned in the current 13 which is conducted inside a tube 15 which supplies the conditioned gases 13 to a patient 14.

Around the heating element 9 of tube 15, this is fed by alternating current with voltage of 24 volts of alternating current that are obtained from the electric supply current after passing through the transformer 2, the current to the heating element is controlled by the controller 4 operatively connected to the switch 5, the controller receives the temperature values existing at the beginning of the tube and at the end of the tube by the sensors 10 and 11 so that in this way it operates the switch 5 and lets more or less energy pass to the heating element of the tube.

The graph shown in figure 2 shows the variation of the percentage of power supplied to the heating plate, to the heater and the total consumed with respect to time, as it is observed, at the beginning the percentage is always greater in the power supplied to the heater. tube and is very close to that power supplied to the heating plate, there being a first crossing from which the plate heater consumes more energy than the tube heater, from this first crossing the power supplied to the heater almost does not change and is almost stable from a second junction with the energy received by the heating plate, which before said second crossing reaches a maximum of power consumed and decreases rapidly until stabilized.

Said traditional behavior is due to the fact that both the heating plate and the tube heater are fed independently, that is, assuming that the power supply of the public network is infinite, which causes the disadvantages mentioned in the background section.

The authors of the present invention have developed a device for supplying power in a different way to the heating plate and the tube heater, this new form refers to feeding both elements through a switched source that provides direct current voltage, which has the advantage to be stable.

To explain this new solution, reference is made to Figure 3, in which a device 20 for energy supply is shown, in accordance with the principles of the present invention, and where the same references are used for the common elements regarding to previous art. The device 20 is supplied with power from the public network that can be between 90 to 260 volts and with cycles of 50 to 60 Hz said energy is received in a switched source 30, which receives said alternating current, which is transformed into direct current with limited power and stable voltage, more particularly the switched source 30 has a first direct current output 31 and a second direct current output 32.

In the device 20, there is a first switch 41 operatively connected to the first direct current output 31 and the heating plate 6 which heats the humidification chamber 8. For its part, the second switch 42 is operatively connected to the second output 32. of direct current and to the heating element 9 of the tube 15.

The device 20 also has a power controller 50 operatively connected to the first switch 41 and the second switch 42, the controller 50 determines the power that must be supplied to the heating plate 6 and the heating element 9 so that they operate at pre-set temperatures by opening or closing said first and second switch 41 and 42.

To know the operating temperatures, the device has a temperature sensor 7 of the heating plate 6 to measure its temperature and which is operatively connected to the controller 50 to provide it with the value of the temperature of the heating plate 6.

In a similar way, the device 20 has a gas temperature sensor 10 in the humidification chamber 8 and is operatively connected to the controller 50. Finally, the device has a temperature sensor 11 of the gas supplied to the patient 14 for measuring the temperature of said gas and which is operatively connected to the controller 50.

During operation of the humidifier, the controller 50 receives the values of the temperatures of the plate 6, the gas in the humidification chamber 8 and the gas supplied to the patient 14 to be compared with preset values of these temperatures in the controller 50, so that if there is some greater difference to an error threshold, vary the power delivered to the plate 6 and / or the heating element 9.

At the start of the operation, the device supplies 20% to 100% of the power to the heating plate and the rest to the tube heater. When the pre-set temperature has been reached in the tube heater and in the heating plate, the device delivers 50 to 80% of the total power to the tube heater and 20 to 50% to the heating plate.

It is very important to mention that the switched source 30 provides limited and finite power, which implies a lower energy consumption and whose implementation was a challenge on which the inventors had to solve several obstacles in particular, not changing the design of the heating plate and elements traditional heating, that is, these parts of the traditional humidifiers did not undergo change in their design but a solution was found and developed to be able to be fed and operate with a limited voltage.

For the present invention, a commercial switched source is used, well known to those skilled in the art whose main circuits are illustrated in FIG. 4 and which are an electric protection and input circuit 33 which aims to reduce the interference of the line of voltage that affect the operation of the source, likewise avoid sending noise to the voltage line. Connected to this circuit 33 is a rectifier 34 which causes the current received from the input circuit 33 to be converted from alternating current to direct current; subsequently there is a switching circuit (switching) 35 to generate the required oscillation frequency, then there is an output circuit 36 that delivers the energy to the load with the voltages and currents. required. In the switched sources there is a sensing circuit 39 which monitors the output circuit 36 to provide feedback by the pulse width modulator 38 which allows to regulate the voltage and the output current; said pulse width modulator serves to condition the feedback of the regulation and is linked to the switching circuit 35. Finally, the switched source comprises an auxiliary source 37 whose function is to provide a reference voltage for pulse width modulation and which is also operatively connected to the rectifier 34.

In one embodiment the switched source supplies a power of at least 60 watts.

In the present invention, the use of the switched source required a method specially designed to operate the device of the present invention, which is described based on Figure 5, which shows an operation scheme of the device of the present invention.

The procedure 100 starts at step 110 where set-point temperatures of the heating plate are established; of the heating element, of the gases supplied by the humidification chamber and the gases supplied to the patient. Subsequently, a start stage 120 is performed in which the power is delivered in greater quantity to the heating plate with respect to the power delivered to the heating element until reaching a maximum power supplied to the heating plate.

Then, a transition stage 130 is carried out in which the amount of power delivered to the heating plate is reduced to a percentage close to 20% of the maximum value available by the switched source and the power is increased towards the tube heater, there being a crossing point where both elements are fed with the same power.

Finally, a stabilization step 140 is carried out where the temperatures in the tube heater and the heating plate are in the error stage, and where particularly the device delivers 50 to 80% of the total power to the tube heater and from 20 to 50% to the heating plate.

The method of the present invention can be visualized in figure 6 where the percentage of power supplied to the heating plate and the heating element in each of these stages (start, transition and stabilization) are represented, which is a behavior that differs completely from that shown in figure 2 in the traditional way Referring to Figure 7, there is shown a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein there is a second switched source 30 ', connected in series with the first switched source, to supply a greater amount of energy, in this second mode, there is an additional output 31 'in case it is required to connect another attachment of the humidifier. The rest of the elements shown in this figure are those already described for Figure 3.

The device of the present invention and the control method will be more clearly illustrated by means of the examples that are described below, which are presented for purposes merely illustrative, but not limiting of the invention, said examples being the following: Example 1 Comparative To make a comparison with the previous art, power is fed to a humidifier model HUMEDEM DUAL manufactured by the Mexican company IDEM, where plate temperatures of 37 ° C were set in the sensor of the plate and 39 ° C in the sensor of the gases towards the patient.

The powers delivered at the beginning and once the setpoint temperatures have been reached using a traditional feed are shown in table 1.

TABLE 1 In this case of traditional operation, the condition that passes from the Start to Stability stage is that the camera or patient sensors reach the required set point previously fed.

The same humidifier was operated by the device of the present invention, the powers delivered in each stage of operation according to the new method are illustrated in table 2.

TABLE 2 Comparing the values in tables 1 and 2, it is observed that the power supplied in the traditional way tends toward the consumption of a greater amount of energy from the start of operation and even when it stabilizes. In this traditional mode, only the power consumption is reduced by only 8% between these two stages.

While in the device of the present invention not only initiates the operation at a lower power value but also tends to decrease in the stabilization compared to the traditional mode it represents 40% less power used in the starting and stability stages .

Although certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and exemplified, it should be emphasized that numerous modifications to them are possible, such as the particular configuration of the switched source, the type of switches or operating parameters. Therefore, the present invention should not be considered as restricted except for what is required by the prior art and by the scope of the appended claims.

LIST D REFERENCES Transformer Dish switch Controller Heating element switch Heating plate Dish temperature sensor Humidification Chamber Tube heater Gas temperature sensor that comes out of the chamber Gas temperature sensor supplied to the patient Gases conditioned Patient 5 Tube 0 Device 0 Switched source 0 'Switched source connected in series 1 First CD release 1 'Additional CD output. 2 Second CD output 3 Entry circuit 4 Rectifier 5 Switching circuit 36 Exit Circuit 37 Auxiliary Source 38 Pulse Width Modulator 39 Circuit of Sensado 41 First switch 42 Second switch 50 Controller 100 Control method 110 Establishment stage 120 Start stage 130 Transition Stage 140 Stabilization Stage

Claims (12)

1. A power control device (20) supplied to the heating plate (6) of the humidification chamber (8) and the heating element (9) of the tube (15) in humidifiers, the device being characterized in that it comprises: a) a switched source (30) receiving alternating current (AC) and having a first direct current (DC) output (31) and a second direct current output (32); b) a first switch (41) operatively connected to the first direct current output (31) and the heating plate (6); c) a second switch (42) operatively connected to the second direct current output (32) and the heating element (9), d) a power controller (50) operatively connected to the first switch (41) and the second switch (42), the controller determines the power that must be delivered to the heating plate (6) and to the heating element (9) so that operate at preset operating temperatures by opening or closing said first and second switch (41 and 42); e) a temperature sensor (7) of the plate (6) for measuring its temperature and which is operatively connected to the controller to provide it with the value of the temperature of the heating plate; f) a gas temperature sensor (11) in the humidification chamber (8) and which is operatively connected to the controller; g) a temperature sensor (10) of the gas supplied to the patient to measure the temperature of said gas and which is operatively connected to the controller; wherein the controller receives the values of the temperatures of the plate, of the gas in the humidification chamber and of the gas supplied to the patient to compare them with reference values of the same so that, if there is any difference greater than a threshold in said values, vary the power delivered to the plate and / or the heating element.

2. The power control device according to claim 1, characterized in that the switched source receives alternating current with voltages of 90 to 260 Volts with cycles of 50 to 60 HZ.

3. The power control device according to claim 1, characterized in that it provides a power of at least 60 watts.

4. The power control device according to claim 1, characterized in that at the beginning of the operation, the device supplies from 20% to 80% of the total output power of the switched source towards the heating plate and the rest to the heater of tube.

5. The power control device according to claim 1, characterized in that when the pre-established temperature in the tube heater and the heating plate has been reached, the device delivers 50 to 80% of the total power to the tube heater and 20 to 50% to the heating plate.

6. The power control device according to claim 1, characterized in that it additionally comprises a second switched source connected in series with the first to provide the summed power of both sources to the heating plate and to the heating element.

7. A method of controlling the power supply to the heating plate and the heating element for supplying power by means of a device as claimed in claim 1, the method being characterized in that it comprises: a) preset operating values of the heating plate; of the heating element, of the gases supplied by the humidification chamber and the gases supplied to the patient; b) performing an initial stage in which the power generated by the switched source is delivered in greater quantity to the heating plate with respect to the heating element; c) perform a transition stage in which the amount of power delivered to the heating plate is reduced and the power to the tube heater is increased to the pre-set values d) Perform a stabilization stage in which more power is supplied to the tube heater than to the heater plate.

8. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that 20% to 100% of the power to the heating plate is supplied in the starting stage.

9. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that in the transition stage there is a moment at which powers equal to the tube heater and the heating plate are supplied.

10. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that in the transition stage, the amount of power delivered to the heating plate is reduced to a percentage close to 20% of the maximum value available by the source and the power to the heating element is increased. tube.

11. A method according to claim 8, characterized in that in the stabilization stage the device delivers 50 to 80% of the total power to the tube heater and 20 to 50% to the heating plate.

12. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that the temperature of the heating plate, the gases leaving the humidification chamber and the gases supplied to the patient are measured in each of the process steps.