WO2011135093A1

WO2011135093A1 - Refrigerator for concentrator device for oxygen treatment

Info

Publication number: WO2011135093A1
Application number: PCT/EP2011/056886
Authority: WO
Inventors: Filippo Moscatelli
Original assignee: Medicair Italia S.R.L.
Priority date: 2010-04-30
Filing date: 2011-04-29
Publication date: 2011-11-03
Also published as: ITMI20100752A1; IT1399753B1

Abstract

There is described an oxygen concentrator device (10; 100a; 100b), particularly for house oxygen treatment, comprising: a compressor (16) designed to compress a flow (A) of ambient air; a molecular sieve battery (18) in fluid communication with said compressor (16), and designed to separate oxygen to be delivered to a patient from the flow (A) of compressed ambient air; and means (21) for delivering to the patient the oxygen flow (02) leaving the molecular sieve battery (18), The concentrator device (10; 100a; 100b) further comprises refrigerating means (30; 300) placed between the molecular sieve battery (18) and the oxygen delivering means (21), such that the oxygen flow (02) reaches the patient at the desired temperature.

Description

REFRIGERATOR FOR CONCENTRATOR DEVICE FOR OXYGEN TREATMENT

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates, in general, to the technical field of the oxygen treatment. In particular, the invention relates to a concentrator device for house oxygen treatment, provided with a refrigerator. Oxygen treatment is a very efficient therapy for the treatment of all forms of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which appear with a stable decreasing of the oxygen in the arterial blood.

In the eighties, house oxygen treatment has been introduced. The devices used for the house oxygen treatment are substantially of three types: cylinders filled with high pressure gaseous oxygen, typically between 150 bar and 300 bar; cryogenic containers filled with liquid oxygen, having a weight to contained oxygen ratio better than that of the gaseous oxygen cylinders; and oxygen concentrators. With specific reference to the oxygen concentrators, they are devices suitable for producing gaseous oxygen directly at the patient's home, in a quantity and at a quality adapted to the type of therapy requested by the pathology.

The known oxygen concentrators today available on the market comprise an adiabatic compressor, filtering means for the ambient air, typically one or more batteries of molecular sieves and means for delivering oxygen to the patient, typically a flowmeter and a nasal tube.

The ambient air enters the compressor, wherein it undergoes an adiabatic compression, and is subsequently transferred to the batteries of molecular sleves. Within the molecular sieves, moisture, carbon dioxide and nitrogen present in the ambient air are trapped by the zeolite molecules, whereas oxygen leaving the molecular sieves is collected in a suitable reservoir and delivered to the patient at a desired flow rate through the nasal tube. Preferably, the oxygen flow leaving the molecular sieves is wetted by making it to pass through a humidifier, before being delivered to the patient.

The above mentioned oxygen concentrators have, however, the following drawbacks,

First, during the passage through the molecular sieves, the air gets warmer, whereby an oxygen flow having an undesired temperature could be delivered to the patient.

Secondly, being these concentrators largely intended for a house use, they can operate in warm environments for the comfort of the sick persons. It results that, although the produced oxygen is at the required concentration and moisture level, it is delivered to the patient at a temperature greater of various degrees than that of the room in which the concentrator is installed. This can produce a nasty dryness sensation for the patient, so causing an irritation of his first respiratory tracts.

US 5 893 275 A discloses an apparatus for producing liquid oxygen in an oxygen patient's home comprising non-ciyogenic separating means for separating oxygen from an oxygen containing fluid to form an oxygen-depleted waste gas and cryocooling means, in communication with the separating means, for cryocooling at least a portion of the oxygen-containing feedstream to form liquid oxygen.

This known apparatus does not produce refrigerated gaseous oxygen, in that the cryocooling means are downstream to the output of concentrated gaseous oxygen. Moreover, the cryocooling means are used to liquefy at least a portion of oxygen- containing feedstream to form liquid oxygen.

The main object of the present invention is, thus, to eliminate or at least reduce the drawbacks above mentioned with reference to the known oxygen concentrators, by providing an oxygen concentrator device, particularly for house oxygen treatment, adapted to produce gaseous oxygen at the desired temperature, thus balancing the warming the oxygen undergoes by passing through the molecular sieves and irrespective of the microclimatic conditions of the room where the concentrator device is located.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an oxygen concentrator device which can be easily used and produced with competitive manufacturing costs. These and other objects, which will better appear in the following, are obtained according to the features listed in the appended claim 1.

According to the present invention there is provided an oxygen concentrator device, particularly for house oxygen treatment, comprising:

- a compressor designed to compress a flow of ambient air;

- at least one molecular sieve battery in fluid communication with the compressor and designed to separate gaseous oxygen to be delivered to a patient from the flow of compressed ambient air;

- means for delivering to the patient the gaseous oxygen flow leaving the at least one molecular sieve batteiy,

The concentrator device is characterized in that it further comprises refrigerating means placed between the molecular sieve batteries and the oxygen delivering means, such that the gaseous oxygen flow reaches the patient at the desired temperature.

Further advantageous aspects of the invention appear from the dependent claims.

The features of the invention will better appear from the following detailed description, which refers to a purely exemplifying and therefore non-limiting embodiments thereof, illustrated in the appended figures, wherein:

- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a oxygen concentrator device according to the present invention;

- Figure 2 is a block diagram, illustrating the operation of an oxygen concentrator device according to a first embodiment of the invention,

- Figure 3 is a block diagram, illustrating the operation of an oxygen concentrator device according to a second embodiment of the invention; and

- Figure 4 is a block diagram, illustrating the operation of an oxygen concentrator device according to a third embodiment of the invention.

In the appended drawings same or similar parts or components are designated with the same reference numerals.

With reference to Figure 1 , an oxygen concentrator device, particularly for house oxygen treatment, according to a first embodiment of the invention, is designated in general with the reference numeral 10. The concentrator device 10 comprises a container body 12, preferably provided with rollers 14 to facilitate the displacement thereof from one room to another, for example of a home. Moreover, the container body 12 has, in the lower portion thereof, one or more vents 13 for the entry of ambient air, Preferably, the vents 13 are provided with washing filters (not shown) designed to trap any impurities present in the ambient air.

As shown in greater detail in Figure 2, the concentrator device 10 comprises a compressor 16 designed to compress a flow A of ambient air, means for filtering the flow A of ambient air, typically one or more molecular sieve batteries 18, designed to trap the carbon dioxide (CO₂) and the nitrogen (N₂) present in the compressed flow of ambient air A coming from the compressor 16 and for outputting a flow of gaseous oxygen O₂, and means 21 for delivering to a patient the gaseous oxygen flow O₂ leaving the molecular sieve batteries 18, typically a nasal tube, shown in Figure 1.

Preferably, the concentrator device 10 comprises downstream to the molecular sieve batteries 18 an oxygen reservoir 20 and means for adjusting the oxygen flow rate to be delivered, for example a flowmeter 22. Preferably, the concentrator device 10 further comprises, upstream to the oxygen delivering means 21, a humidifier 24 designed to humidify the oxygen flow O₂ to be delivered to the patient.

In particular, the humidifier 24 is of a known type and consists of a vessel 25 filled with water.

In use, the flow of ambient air A entering the container body 12 of the concentrator 10 through the vents 13 is delivered to the compressor 16. Inside the compressor 16, the flow A of ambient air undergoes an adiabatic compression and is, then, delivered to the molecular sieve batteries 18.

During passage through the molecular sieves 18, the flow A of compressed ambient air gets warmer; moreover, the nitrogen present in the flow A of compressed ambient air is trapped by the zeolite macromolecules. The separated and warmed oxygen O₂ exits from the molecular sieve batteries 18 and is collected in the oxygen reservoir 20. The oxygen flow O₂ to be delivered to the patient which leaves the molecular sieve batteries 18 and is collected within the reservoir 20, is adjusted by means of the flowmeter 22. Moreover, before reaching the patient through the nasal tube 21, the oxygen flow O₂ passes, preferably, through the humidifier 24, so enriching itself of drops of water. In such a way, a flow of humidified oxygen O_{2 humidified} is delivered to the patient.

The concentrator device 10 further comprises refrigerating means 30, positioned between the molecular sieve batteries 18 and the delivering means 21 and designed to cool the gaseous oxygen flow to be delivered to the patient. This advantageously allows the patient to be delivered with a gaseous oxygen flow O₂ at the desired temperature, this balancing the warming the oxygen undergoes during the passage through the molecular sieve batteries and irrespective of the specific microclimate of the ambient where the concentrator device 10 is located. As a consequence, that nasty dryness sensation for the patient is absent, which conversely could be present in the event of devices installed in rooms with insufficient ventilation and/or impregnated with smells.

Preferably, there are provided means 32 for adjusting the temperature of the oxygen flow O₂ to be delivered, for example a knob 32 by means of which the patient can select the desired delivering temperature.

In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, the refrigerating means are preferably placed between the flowmeter 22 and the humidifier 24. It results that the warmed oxygen flow O₂ coming from the molecular sieve batteries 18 is first cooled to the desired temperature and subsequently humidified in the humidifier 24, before being delivered to the patient through the nasal tube 21.

In Figure 3, a second embodiment of a concentrator device according to the invention is illustrated, which is designated in general with the reference numeral 100a.

The concentrator device 100a differs from the concentrator device 10 described and illustrated with reference to Figure 2 in that the refrigerating means consist of a refrigerating plate 300, conveniently a Peltier cell, placed into contact with the bottom of the vessel 25 of the humidifier 24. All the other components of the concentrator device 100a are the same of those of the concentrator device 10, whereby they will not be described again. In use, the flow A of ambient air entering the container body 12 of the concentrator 10 through the vents 13 is delivered to the compressor 16. Inside the compressor 16, the flow A of ambient air undergoes an adiabatic compression and is, then, delivered to the molecular sieve batteries 18.

During passage through the molecular sieves 18, the compressed flow A of ambient air gets warmer; moreover, the nitrogen present in the flow A of compressed ambient air is trapped by zeolite macromolecules, The separated and warmed oxygen O₂ exits from the molecular sieve batteries 18 and is collected in the oxygen reservoir 20.

The oxygen flow O₂ to be delivered to the patient outputted from the molecular sieve batteries 18 and collected within the reservoir 20, is adjusted by means of the flowmeter 22.

Moreover, before reaching the patient through the nasal tube 21, the warmed oxygen flow O₂ passes through the humidifier 24, so enriching itself of drops of water and at the same time cooling for the effect of the presence of the refrigerating plate 300 placed into contact with the bottom of the vessel 25 of the humidifier 24. In such a way, a flow of humidified oxygen O_{2 humidified} at the desired temperature is delivered to the patient irrespective of the specific microclimate of the room wherein the concentrator device 100a is placed, with the consequent absence of that nasty diyness sensation for the user,

The concentrator device 100a presents, in addition to the advantage related to the thermal regulation of the gaseous oxygen flow O₂ delivered to the patient, an easier structure, and thus lower manufacturing costs.

Alternatively, the refrigerating plate 300, instead of into contact with the bottom of the humidifier 24, can be placed into contact with the bottom of the reservoir 20 for collecting the oxygen O₂ leaving the molecular sieve batteries 18. Such a concentrator device, designated in general with the reference numeral 100b, is shown in Figure 4.

In the configuration shown in Figure 4, in use, the flow of warmed oxygen O₂ leaving the molecular sieve batteries 18 is collected inside the reservoir 20, into which it cools due to the presence of the refrigerating plate 300. The oxygen flow so cooled passes though the humidifier 24, so enriching of drops of water, so that a flow of humidified oxygen O₂ _humidified at the desired temperature is again delivered to the patient, irrespective of the specific microclimate of the room wherein the concentrator device 100a is placed. It results the absence of that nasty diyness sensation for the patient user. In the practical realization of the invention, the refrigerating means can be placed within the container body 12 of the concentrator device or outside thereof, as a separated unit.

Without departing from the scope of the invention exposed in the appended claims, a person skilled in the art can make to the embodiment of the invention above described numerous modifications and variations.

Claims

1. An oxygen concentrator device (10; 100a; 100b), particularly for house oxygen treatment, comprising:

- a compressor (16) designed to compress a flow (A) of ambient air;

at least one molecular sieve battery (18) in fluid communication with said compressor (16), and designed to separate gaseous oxygen to be delivered to a patient from the flow (A) of compressed ambient air; and

means (21) for delivering to the patient the gaseous oxygen flow (O₂) leaving said at least one molecular sieve battery (18);

characterized in that it further comprises refrigerating means (30; 300) placed between said at least one molecular sieve battery (18) and said oxygen delivering means (21), such that the gaseous oxygen flow (O₂) reaches the patient at the desired temperature.

2, A concentrator device (10; 100a; 100b) according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a humidifier (24) placed upstream to said oxygen delivering means (21).

3. A concentrator device (10; 100a; 100b) according to claim 2, characterized in that said humidifier (24) consists of a container (25) filled with water and designed to receive the oxygen flow (O₂) and to output a flow of humidified oxygen (02 humidified) which reaches the patient through the oxygen delivering means (21).

4. A concentrator device (10; 100a, 100b) according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that it further comprises an oxygen reservoir (20) designed to collect the oxygen flow (O₂) outputted from said at least one molecular sieve battery (18).

5. A concentrator device (10) according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that said refrigerating means (30) are placed between said at least one molecular sieve battery (18) and said humidifier (24).

6. A concentrator device (100a; 100b) according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that said refrigerating means consist of a refrigerating plate (300).

7. A concentrator device (100a) according to claim 6, characterized in that said refrigerating plate (300) is placed in contact with the bottom of said humidifier (24).

8. A concentrator device (100b) according to claim 6 when depending on claim 4, characterized in that said refrigerating plate (300) is placed in contact with the bottom of said oxygen reservoir (20).

9. A concentrator device (10; 100a, 100b) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises a flowmeter (22).

10. A concentrator device (10; 100a, 100b) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said means for delivering oxygen to the patient consist of a nasal tube (21).

11. Refrigerating means (30; 300) to be placed between a molecular sieve battery (18) and oxygen deliveiy means (21) of an oxygen concentrator device, such that the gaseous oxygen flow (O₂) reaches the patient at the desired temperature.