Patent Application
20060216158
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oxygen-compression apparatus, and more particularly to a domestic oxygen-compression apparatus that can conveniently store oxygen in a tank with a desired pressure.
2. Description of Related Art
Oxygen is commonly applied to assist a patient's breathing, and home oxygen concentrators have been utilized to supply patients with oxygen at home. A conventional apparatus for producing oxygen is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,165, entitled “Apparatus and Method for Forming Oxygen-Enriched Gas and Compression Thereof for High-Pressure Mobile Storage Utilization”. The '165 Patent can produce enriched oxygen and compress the oxygen to portable container at a desired high pressure, i.e. above 2000 psi, such that the patient can carry the container with compressed oxygen to any desired location for use. The '165 Patent provides a compressor composed of a crankshaft, multiple connecting rods, multiple cylinders and multiple pistons. The connecting rods are connected to the crankshaft. The pistons are connected respectively to the connecting rods and extend respectively into the cylinders. With the rotation of the crankshaft, the pistons will compress oxygen in the cylinder with the transmission of the connecting rods, such that the oxygen will be compressed to a desired high pressure and is then collected in a gas tank. However, the '165 Patent needs an auxiliary piston to eliminate lateral force, such that the compressor of the '165 Patent takes up a large space and has a complex structure. In addition, the cylinders of the '165 Patent only has a short stroke and must be connected to a specific concentrator, so that the compressor of the '165 Patent is inconvenient in operation. To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an improved home oxygen-compression apparatus to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the invention is to provide an oxygen-compression apparatus that can conveniently pump oxygen into a gas tank at a desired pressure and can simultaneously apply oxygen to a user with an auxiliary output hose. The oxygen-compression apparatus has a driving device, multiple rotating wheels, multiple driving rings, multiple rocking cylinders and multiple connecting hoses. The driving device has a driving shaft with a central axis. The rotating wheels are eccentrically attached on and rotated with the driving shaft and are located respectively at different angles relative to the central axis of the driving shaft. The driving rings are rotatably mounted respectively around the rotating wheels. The rocking cylinders are connected respectively to the driving rings and each has a housing and a piston rod. The housing has an inner space. The piston rod has a first end extending into the inner space of the housing to form a compression chamber in the inner space and a second end pivotally connected to a corresponding one of the driving rings. An input hose is connected to the compression chamber of a first of the rocking cylinders and adapted to be connected to an oxygen source. An output hose is connected to the compression chamber of a second of the rocking cylinders.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, an oxygen-compression apparatus in accordance with the present invention comprises a driving device (10), multiple rotating wheels (12,122,124), multiple driving rings (13,132,134), multiple rocking cylinders (20,21,22) and multiple connecting hoses (23). The driving device (10) has a driving shaft (102) with a central axis and optionally a motor with a gear box.
The rotating wheels (12,122,124) are eccentrically attached on and rotated with the driving shaft (102) and are located respectively at different angles relative to the central axis of the driving shaft (102). In a preferred embodiment, three rotating wheels (12,122,124) are mounted on the driving shaft (102) and are located at 120° relative to each other and the central axis of the driving shaft (102).
The driving rings (13,132,134) are rotatably mounted respectively around the rotating wheels (12,122,124). In the preferred embodiment, three driving rings (13,132,134), including a first driving ring (13), a second driving ring (132) and a third driving ring (134) are provided.
The rocking cylinders (20,21,22) are connected respectively to the driving rings (13,132,134) and each has a housing (202,212,222) and a piston rod (204,214,224). In the preferred embodiment, three rocking cylinders (20,21,22), including a first rocking cylinder (20), a second rocking cylinder (21) and a third rocking cylinder (22) are provided. The housing (202,212,222) has an inner space. The piston rod (204,214,224) has a first end extending into the inner space of the housing (202,212,222) to form a compression chamber (203,213,223) in the inner space and a second end pivotally connected to a corresponding one of the driving rings (13,132,134). The compression chamber (203) of the first rocking cylinder (20) is connected to an oxygen source with an input hose (24), and the compression chamber (223) of the third rocking cylinder (22) is connected to a gas tank (40) with an output hose (25). In a preferred embodiment, the rocking cylinders (20,21,22) have different compression ratios.
In addition, a base (16) is provided to support the rocking cylinders (20,21,22), and the housings (202,212,222) of the rocking cylinders (20,21,22) are pivotally attached to the base (16).
The connecting hoses (23) are connected between the compression chambers (203,213,223) of adjacent rocking cylinders (20,21,22). In addition, multiple check valves (28) are attached respectively to the hoses (23,24,25) to form a one-way passage between the hoses (23,24,25) and the compression chambers (203,213,223) of the cylinders (20,21,22).
With further reference to
With such an apparatus, an oxygen-compression apparatus with a simple structure is provided, and the cost for manufacturing the apparatus is low. In addition, because the cylinders (20,21,22) are alternately compressed with the driving rings (13,132,134), to compress the oxygen to a desired high pressure is efficient and takes a short time. Therefore, the user can easily store pressurized oxygen in gas tanks at home.
Furthermore, an auxiliary output hose (26) is attached to the input hose (24), such that oxygen supplied from the oxygen source can be applied to a user directly at a low pressure. The user can breathe and store oxygen with the apparatus at the same time, such that the use of the oxygen-compression apparatus in accordance with the present invention is versatile.
In addition, an oxygen concentration detecting device (30) is connected to the input hose (24) connected to the oxygen source to detect the concentration of the oxygen supplied from the oxygen source. The detecting device (30) comprises a buffer tank (32), a filter (34), an oxygen sensing unit (36) and a restrictor (27). The buffer tank (32) is connected to the oxygen source. The filter (34) is connected to the buffer tank (32). The oxygen sensing unit (36) is connected to the filter (34) to detect the concentration of the oxygen applied into the unit (36). The restrictor (27) is connected to the input hose (24), is electrically connected to the oxygen sensing unit (36) and can be a switch to close the passage of the input hose (24) until the restrictor (27) is opened.
With such an oxygen concentration detecting device (30), oxygen will be not applied to the cylinders (20,21,22) before the concentration of oxygen reaches a desired level. When the concentration of oxygen supplied from the oxygen source and detected by the oxygen sensing unit (36) reaches a predetermined level, the oxygen sensing unit (36) sends a signal to open the restrictor (27). Thereafter, oxygen at a desired concentration is applied to the cylinders (20,21,22) and is compressed to a desired pressure with the apparatus.
Furthermore, because the rocking cylinders (20,21,22) can eliminate lateral force automatically, so an auxiliary piston is unnecessary and the structure of the oxygen-compression apparatus of this invention is simplified. In addition, the rocking cylinders (20,21,22) have a longer stroke than a conventional on of the '165 Patent and can be connected to all concentrators, such that the use and operation of the oxygen-compression apparatus in accordance with the present invention is convenient.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
