Patent Application
20130299005
The present invention relates to an overheating detection unit and an oxygen concentrator capable of preventing spreading of fire to the oxygen concentrator, fire of the oxygen concentrator itself, and the like in the case of exposure to an abnormal high-temperature environment such as fire by attaching the overheating detection unit between the oxygen concentrator and a cannula.
As an example of an oxygen concentrator, an adsorption-type oxygen concentrator that compresses input raw material air to generate compressed air and supplies the compressed air to an adsorption cylinder that stores an adsorbent so that nitrogen is adsorbed to the adsorbent and oxygen is generated and a membrane separation-type oxygen concentrator that uses an oxygen selective permeating membrane which is a polymer membrane of which the oxygen permeation coefficient is larger than the nitrogen permeation coefficient are known. In the adsorption-type oxygen concentrator, a zeolite is mainly used as an example of the adsorbent that adsorbs nitrogen. Moreover, in the oxygen selective permeating membrane-type oxygen concentrator, polydimethylsiloxane-polycarbonate copolymer, poly(4-methylpentene-1), a polyphenylene oxide, a porphyrin complex containing film, and the like are used, for example. Moreover, oxygen concentrated to 90% or higher is stored in a tank, and a state where the oxygen can be supplied at a predetermined flow rate from the tank with the aid of a pressure-reducing valve and a flow rate setting device is created. In this manner, the user can inhale oxygen using a tool such as a nasal cannula. When the oxygen concentrator is installed at a place where an AC power supply (utility AC power supply) can be used, for example, a domiciliary oxygen therapy patient having a deteriorated lung function can safely inhale oxygen even while sleeping to have a good sleep.
Moreover, the oxygen concentrator used for a long-term oxygen inhalation therapy which is effective as a therapeutic method for a patient who suffers from respiratory disease such as chronic bronchitis is generally not transportable and is not configured for the patient to go outside while carry the same.
Moreover, an oxygen concentrator in which a temperature sensor is provided in a nasal cannula, and generation of concentrated oxygen is stopped when the temperature reaches 50° C. is also proposed (see Patent Literature 1).
The oxygen concentrator disclosed in Patent Literature 1 has a configuration in which a temperature sensor is disposed in the halfway of the nasal cannula, and the supply of oxygen is stopped based on the signal detected by the temperature sensor. However, in such a very simple structure disclosed in Patent Literature 1 that the supply of oxygen is stopped at approximately 50° C., there is a possibility that the supply of oxygen is cut just because a heating appliance is located in the room where the oxygen concentrator is used, and the heat radiated from the heating appliance reaches the oxygen concentrator. There is another possibility that the oxygen concentrator may not operate in a closed room in the summer just because the temperature of the environment where the oxygen concentrator is placed increases. Thus, the oxygen concentrator is inconvenient to use and is not useful.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an overheating detection unit and an oxygen concentrator capable of securing safety since, by attaching the overheating detection unit between the oxygen concentrator and a cannula, it is possible to reliably detect a high-temperature environment to cut the supply of oxygen when a user inhales oxygen using the cannula and is exposed to a fire or an abnormal high-temperature environment.
An overheating detection unit according to the present invention is an overheating detection unit disposed between an oxygen outlet of an oxygen concentrator that generates concentrated oxygen from raw material air and that has the oxygen outlet outputting the concentrated oxygen and a nasal cannula having a coupler socket, or between the oxygen outlet and the coupler socket provided at one end of a tube that is connected to the nasal cannula, so as to detect an overheating state, the overheating detection unit comprising: a main body including a connecting member connected to the oxygen outlet and also including an oxygen outlet portion connected to the coupler socket; and a housing covering the main body, the main body including: a temperature sensor disposed in the oxygen outlet portion so as to detect a temperature of the oxygen outlet portion; and a blocking structure portion blocking a passage between the connecting member and the oxygen outlet portion so as to cut supply of oxygen when the temperature sensor detects a temperature that is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature.
According to the above configuration, it is possible to secure safety since by attaching the overheating detection unit between the oxygen concentrator and the cannula, it is possible to reliably detect a high-temperature environment to cut the supply of oxygen when the user is inhaling oxygen using the cannula and is exposed to a fire or an abnormal high-temperature environment.
Preferably, the housing includes a first cover that is fixed to the main body, a second cover that is fixed to the main body and detachably attached to the first cover, and a protection cover that is fixed to the main body so as to cover bottom portions of the first and second covers, and a first opening for exposing the oxygen outlet portion is formed in the first and second covers, and a second opening for exposing an end of the connecting member is formed in a bottom portion of the protection cover.
According to the above configuration, the main body can be protected by being covered by the housing and the protection cover. The oxygen outlet portion is exposed from the housing and thus can be easily connected to the tube. The connecting member is exposed from the protection cover and thus can be easily connected to the oxygen outlet of the oxygen concentrator.
Preferably, the protection cover is detachably fixed to the main body by one screw.
According to the above configuration, by using only one screw, the protection cover can be reliably fixed to the main body, and the operation of attaching and removing the protection cover can be facilitated.
Preferably, the protection cover has a convex fitting portion that is fitted to a step portion formed in the oxygen concentrator in a state where the oxygen outlet is connected to the connecting member.
According to the above configuration, the overheating detection unit can be held by being reliably fitted to the oxygen concentrator in a state where the connecting member of the overheating detection unit is connected to the oxygen outlet of the oxygen concentrator.
Preferably, the protection cover is formed of a transparent resin, and the protection cover has a lens portion for guiding light of an oxygen lamp provided in the oxygen concentrator so as to emit light to display that oxygen is output from the oxygen outlet to a periphery of the overheating detection unit.
According to the above configuration, even when the overheating detection unit is covered on the oxygen lamp, the user can easily observe the light of the oxygen lamp through the lens portion.
Preferably, the lens portion guides the light of the oxygen lamp of the oxygen concentrator to a plurality of positions of an outer circumference of the second cover.
According to the above configuration, the user can easily observe the light of the oxygen lamp at the plurality of positions of the outer circumference of the second cover.
Preferably, the blocking structure portion includes a blocking member that presses an elastically deformable tube that connects the connecting member and the oxygen outlet portion to thereby cut the supply of oxygen.
According to the above configuration, it is possible to easily and reliably cut the supply of oxygen just by pressing the elastically deformable tube that connects the connecting member and the oxygen outlet portion.
Preferably, the overheating detection unit further includes a display that is provided on the housing so as to inform by changing emission colors a user of a normal operation state, a cut-off state of the oxygen when overheating is detected, and a battery replacement state.
According to the above configuration, the user can reliably observe a plurality of states of the overheating detection unit based on different emission colors.
An oxygen concentrator according to the present invention includes a compressed air generator that compresses raw material air to generate compressed air; an oxygen outlet that outputs oxygen obtained from the compressed air; and the overheating detection unit described above.
According to the above configuration, by attaching the overheating detection unit between the oxygen concentrator and the cannula, it is possible to reliably detect a high-temperature environment to secure safety when the user is inhaling oxygen using the cannula and is exposed to a fire or an abnormal high-temperature environment.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an overheating detection unit and an oxygen concentrator capable of securing safety since by attaching the overheating detection unit between the oxygen concentrator and the cannula, it is possible to reliably detect a high-temperature environment to cut the supply of oxygen and to secure safety when the user is inhaling oxygen using the cannula and is exposed to a fire or an abnormal high-temperature environment.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
The various limitations that are technically preferable are added to the embodiments described below because the embodiments are preferred specific examples of the present invention. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments unless there is an explicit description for limiting the scope of the present invention.
An oxygen concentrator 10 shown in
As shown in
Since the step portion 15D is formed in the operation panel 13 in this manner, the oxygen outlet 15 can be positioned in the step portion 15D, and a portion of an overheating detection unit 300 shown in
The overheating detection unit 300 shown in
In
Four rubber legs 27 are fixed to four corners of a bottom cover 26 of the body case 11 shown in
The power switch 14 shown in
An alarm display portion 15A in which the character “Service” or a character display or the like corresponding to this is printed crosswise is disposed above the oxygen outlet 15 at the center. An oxygen lamp 15L in which, for example, a light emitting LED that is lit in green, red and yellow is provided below the alarm display portion 15A. The oxygen lamp 15L is one that displays by lighting that oxygen comes out from the oxygen outlet 15, and in the example of
The oxygen flow rate setting switch 16 shown in
The base member 40 has such a box shape that walls continuously formed downward from four surfaces are integrally molded, and connectors 131 and 130 are fixed to the wall of a rear surface. Exhaust ports 40c that face exhaust ports of a rear cover (not shown) provided in the body case 11 shown in
The 2-stage sound-proof chamber 34 shown in
In the 2-stage sound-proof chamber 34 has a sound-proof chamber cover 39 shown at the front side as shown in the figure and a sound-proof chamber cover 38 shown at the rear side are fixed by a plurality of fixing screws. A soundproofing material 51 is laid inside the 2-stage soundproof chamber 34. Moreover, a sheet-shaped damping member formed of a raw material which is a mixture of synthetic rubber and a special resin material is laid on the outer circumferential surface, and thus, the 2-stage soundproof chamber 34 itself which is a thin aluminum board does not vibrate with resonance or the like.
A first opening 35a (depicted by solid and broken lines) is formed on an upper portion of each of the left and right side walls of the upper-stage member 36 of the 2-stage soundproof chamber 34 shown in
Moreover, an inverter-controlled sirocco fan, for example, can be used as the blast fans 104. The blast fans 104 are fixed to the upper-stage member 36 using brackets so that respective blast ports face downward. Three-way switching valves 109a and 109b and the like shown in
Cylindrical adsorption cylinders 108a and 108b are disposed on the left side wall of the 2-stage soundproof chamber 34 shown in
A product tank 111 shown in
In
In the following description, a case where one in which compressing means (compressed air generator) and decompressing means (negative pressure generator) are integrated is used as the compressor 105 will be described. However, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this, and the compressed air generator and the negative pressure generator may be separated from each other. A front cover and a rear cover (a portion of the body case 11) that introduce outside air through an intake port and discharge the same to the outside through an exhaust port 2c are depicted by broken lines in
In
Air (outside air) passes through an outside air introduction filter 20 included in a filter replacement cover and is introduced into the oxygen concentrator 10 in the direction indicated by arrow F. This air enters into the 2-stage soundproof chamber 34 by being blown by the pair of blast fans 104. As described above, in the 2-stage soundproof chamber 34, air enters into the 2-stage soundproof chamber 34 through openings that are formed on the side surfaces of the 2-stage soundproof chamber 34 (depicted by broken lines) in which the blast fans 104 are arranged on the upper-stage member and the compressor 105 are arranged on the lower-stage member in a vibration-proof state. In order to supply a portion of the air as raw material air to compressing means 105a of the compressor 105, an opening of the pipe 24a is provided inside the 2-stage soundproof chamber 34, and an intake filter 101 that performs secondary filtering and a large-capacity intake muffler 102 are provided halfway the pipe 24a. With this configuration, the intake sound of the raw material air stays in the 2-stage soundproof chamber 34 so that the intake sound is reduced.
In the 2-stage soundproof chamber 34 shown in
Subsequently, the filtered raw material air is pressurized by the compressing means 105a of the compressor 105 to become compressed air. In this case, since the compressed air is delivered to the pipe 24c in a heated state, the pipe 24c may be a light metal pipe having an excellent heat radiating effect and be cooled by the wind blown from the blast fan 104. By cooling the compressed air in this manner, oxygen can be sufficiently concentrated to approximately 90% using a zeolite which is an adsorbent of which the function deteriorates at a high temperature as an adsorbent for generating oxygen by adsorbing nitrogen.
The compressed air is alternately supplied to the first and second adsorption cylinders 108a and 108b serving as adsorbing portions through the pipe 24c. Thus, switching valves (three-way switching valves) 109a and 109b are connected as shown in the figure. In order to desorb unnecessary gas of the switching valves 109a and 109b and the first and second adsorption cylinders 108a and 108b (in order to perform purging (purification)), a plurality of (at least two) first and second negative pressure destruction valves (pressure regulating valves) 120 and 121 is disposed in series in the pipe 24f that communicates with the decompressing means 105b. By opening these first and second negative pressure destruction valves (pressure regulating valves) 120 and 121 to control the pressure inside the pipe 24f up to an atmospheric pressure during a pressure equalizing process when the flow rate is a predetermined value or smaller, vibration of and power consumed by the compressor are suppressed.
A zeolite is used as an example of a catalyst adsorbent stored in the first and second adsorption cylinders 108a and 108b shown in
On the other hand, a check valve and a pressure equalizing valve 107 that includes a throttle valve and an on-off valve are connected to branch off from the outlet on the upper side of the first and second adsorption cylinders 108a and 108b. Moreover, the downstream side of the pressure equalizing valve 107 converges to the pipe 24d which is connected to the product tank 111 that serves as a container for storing the separated and generated oxygen having a concentration of approximately 90% or more. Moreover, a pressure sensor 208 that detects the pressure inside the first and second adsorption cylinders 108a and 108b is connected as shown in the figure.
A pressure regulator 112 that automatically regulates the oxygen pressure on the outlet side to be constant is connected to the pipe 24e on the downstream side of the product tank 111 shown in
With the above configuration, the user can inhale oxygen concentrated to approximately 90% or more with a maximum flow rate of 5 L per minute through the overheating detection unit 300, the nasal cannula 22, and the like.
Subsequently, the power system shown in
The AC power connector 130 shown in
The internal battery 228 and the external battery 227 are secondary batteries that can be repeatedly charged, and the internal battery 228 is charged with the power supplied from the power control circuit 226. At least the internal battery 228 used is one that can be repeatedly charged and discharged at least approximately 500 times (approximately several hundred times) and that has a management function of managing a battery level, a charge/discharge cycle count, deterioration degree, an output voltage, and the like. Preferably, the internal battery 228 has a management function capable of checking a battery level, a remaining charged capacity, and a charge/discharge count on an external mobile terminal or the like.
The external battery 227 can be charged with the power supplied from the power control circuit 226 in the state of being connected via the connector 131, and is generally repeatedly charged using a battery charger that is prepared separately. Alternatively, the external battery 227 in which an exclusively designed battery charger is integrated may be prepared.
In the configuration of the power system, the oxygen concentrator 10 is used by being automatically switched to one of three power supply states, which are a first power supply state where the oxygen concentrator 10 operates with the power supplied from the AC unit 19, a second power supply state where the oxygen concentrator 10 operates with the power supplied from the internal battery 228, and a third power supply state where the oxygen concentrator 10 operates with the power supplied from the external battery 227.
The priority sequence for this automatic switching is implemented based on control of the power control circuit 226 by the central control unit 200 so that the sequence is automatically determined in the order of the first power supply state, the third power supply state, and the second power supply state.
The AC unit 19 may be a switching regulator-type AC unit that can generate a predetermined DC voltage without being affected by a frequency difference and a voltage variation and that can be configured in a small and light configuration and may be a general transformer-type AC unit.
Moreover, the central control unit 200 of the oxygen concentrator 100 has a function of switching to an optimal operation mode according to the amount of generated oxygen. The central control unit 200 preserves the internal battery 228 in particular by performing control such that the compressor 105 and the blast fan 104 automatically rotate at a high speed when a large amount of oxygen is generated and automatically rotate at a low speed when a small amount of oxygen is generated. As a result, even when the user forgets to charge the external battery 227, it is possible to deal with an unexpected going-out, a power failure, and the like.
The motor control unit 201 that controls driving of the DC motor of the compressor 105 and the motor of the blast fan 104 and a sound control unit 203 that outputs an audio content by being connected to the speaker 23 are connected to the central control unit 200.
A ROM that stores a predetermined operation program is included in the central control unit 200, and a storage device 210, a volatile memory 205, a temporary storage device 206, and a real-time clock 207 are further connected to the central control unit 200. The central control unit 200 controls the entire oxygen concentrator 100 and can access the stored contents by connecting to a communication line or the like via the external connector 133.
The flow rate control unit 202 is connected to the central control unit 200. The flow rate control unit 202 controls the driving of the three-way switching valves 109a and 109b, the pressure equalizing valve 107, the negative pressure generator 105b for desorbing the unnecessary gas in the first and second adsorption cylinders 108a and 108b, the first and second negative pressure destruction valves 120 and 121 for controlling the pressure inside the pipe 24f, the oxygen concentration sensor 114, the proportional aperture valve 115, the flow rate sensor 116, and the demand valve 117.
By providing a variable speed controller which is variable speed control means to the motor control unit 201, it is possible to freely change the speed of the compressor 105 based on a user activity level and an environmental condition. As a result, when the demand valve 117 determines based on breath synchronization that a user's oxygen demand is relatively low, for example, because the user is sitting or sleeping, it is possible to automatically decrease the rotation speed of the compressor 105. Moreover, when it is determined that the user's oxygen demand is relatively high and the amount of oxygen demand has increased, for example, because the user is standing up or active and is in a highland, it is possible to automatically increase the rotation speed.
With the above motor control, the power consumed by the entire oxygen concentrator 10 is reduced, and the life span when the oxygen concentrator 10 is driven by a chargeable battery can be extended. Moreover, by decreasing the weight and size of the chargeable battery and decreasing the wear level of the compressor 105 to extend the life span of the compressor 105, it is possible to improve reliability.
The compressor 105 is one that has the functions of generating both compressed air and negative pressure and the rotation speed is automatically controlled according to the flow rate of the output oxygen.
Here, a fan motor that drives the blast fan 104 which is a cooling fan is controlled so as to rotate at a desired rotation speed by controlling voltages according to pulse-width modulation (PWM), for example. In this manner, it is possible to easily control the rotation speed of the fan motor.
Next, the operation panel 13 of the oxygen concentrator 10 and the overheating detection unit 300 detachably attached to the operation panel 13 will be described with reference to
Although the overheating detection unit 300 is not attached to the step portion 15D of the operation panel 13 shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Moreover, a front cover 304 as a first cover that constitutes the housing 301 and a rear cover 305 as a second cover are an outer housing that covers the side surfaces of the main body 302.
In the exploded perspective view of the overheating detection unit 300 of
The front cover 304 and the rear cover 305 of the housing 301 shown in
The front cover 304 includes a curved front surface 304A and a depressed upper surface 304B, and a bottom portion thereof is an opening 304C. The rear cover 305 includes a curved rear surface 305A and a depressed upper surface 305B, and a bottom portion thereof is an opening 305C. The front cover 304 and the rear cover 305 have such a tapered shape that the upper side is narrow and the lower side is wide, and the openings 304C and 305C are blocked by the protection cover 303.
The front cover 304 and the rear cover 305 has an inner space for covering the peripheral portion of the main body 302, and the upper surfaces 304B and 305B form a first opening 300H having an approximately circular shape. The oxygen outlet portion 310 of the main body 302 is exposed to the outside through the first opening 300H. The bottom portion of the main body 302 is exposed through the openings 304C and 305C. The oxygen outlet portion 310 having the function as the connecting portion has the same structure as the oxygen outlet 15 on the oxygen concentrator 10 shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
The display 312 is disposed on the front side of the front surface 304A of the front cover 304. In the display 312, since diffusion ink is applied to the LED display portion 312C, it is possible to diffuse light emitted from the LEDs in order to decrease directivity of light when the light emitting diodes (LEDs) on the main body 302 emit light through the opening 304C of the front cover 304. The display 312 can visually inform the user of various states by changing the emission colors of the three-color LEDs (the green, yellow, and red LEDs 321G, 321Y, and 321R), the states including a state where the overheating detection unit 300 operates normally (lighting or blinking of the green led 321G), an oxygen cut-off state when overheating is detected, and a battery replacement state. The buzzer 313 is a piezoelectric buzzer, for example.
In
The protection cover 303 is held by being fitted into the step portion 15D of the operation panel 13, and the oxygen outlet 15 protrudes into the step portion 15D in a cylindrical form.
The oxygen outlet 15 is detachably connected to the connecting member 330 of the main body 302.
The connecting member 330 is detachably connected to one end 315A of the tube 315. The other end 315B of the tube 315 is detachably connected to an inner end 310N of the oxygen outlet portion 310. An outer end 310M of the oxygen outlet portion 310 is detachably connected to the coupler socket 23 of the nasal cannula 22 shown in
As shown in
When the overheating detection unit 300 is removed from the step portion 15D, the user presses the removal button 311 in the direction indicated by “PS” with the finger thereof, whereby a flexible portion 311V is bent about the boss portion 311S, and the claw portion 311T can be removed from the groove 15H of the oxygen outlet 15. Thus, the overheating detection unit 300 can be easily removed from the step portion 15D. In this manner, attachment and removal of the overheating detection unit 300 can be performed easily.
As shown in
Moreover, as shown in
The protection cover 303 can be fixed to the main body 302 by inserting only one screw 329 into a female screw portion 302F of the main body 302 from a screw hole 303K of the protection cover 303.
As shown in
When the user attaches a new battery 317 and replaces the battery 317, the user can easily perform a battery replacement operation just by removing one screw 329 to remove the protection cover 303, the front cover 304, and the rear cover 305. A lithium battery, for example, can be used as the battery 317.
Here, the structure of the protection cover 303 will be described with reference to
As shown in
The protection cover 303 is molded of a transparent resin (for example, an acryl resin, a polycarbonate resin, or the like). As shown in
As shown in
The lens portion 350 shown in
As shown in
Next, the blocking structure portion 400 for blocking a halfway portion of the tube 315 shown in
The blocking structure portion 400 is used for pressing the tube 315 which is an example of a passage to block the tube 315. The blocking structure portion 400 includes a geared motor M as an electric motor which is an example of a driving portion, a cam 401 which is an example of an operating member, and a blocking member 402.
The geared motor M is a DC motor that includes a speed reducer GM, for example, and the rotation speed thereof is generally reduced to 60 rpm to 120 rpm, for example. The tube 315 is formed of a flexible and elastically deformable material (for example, a plastic material such as a polyvinyl chloride resin (PVC) or a silicon resin).
The cam 401 and the blocking member 402 are formed of a plastic material (for example, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or polyacetal (POM)). The cam 401 and the blocking member 402 are disposed near the tube 315, and the blocking member 402, the cam 401, and the geared motor M are arranged in parallel to the axial direction L in that order.
Moreover,
A preferred shape example of the cam 401 will be described with reference to
The cam 401 has a rotation shaft 404 at one end thereof. The rotation shaft 404 is configured to rotate in the direction indicated by R in relation to the frame 318. The rotation shaft 404 of the cam 401 is connected to an output shaft of the geared motor M. The cam 401 can rotate in the direction indicated by R as shown in
A cam stopper pin 405 that restricts a rotation angle of the cam 401 is attached to the other end (rotating end) of the cam 401. Although the cam 401 has a curved cam following surface 406, since a convex cam following surface is not necessary on the opposite side of the cam following surface 406, a flat surface or a removed portion 407 that is substantially flat is formed on the opposite side.
In this manner, since the curved cam following surface 406 is required on only one side of the cam 401, and a curved cam following surface is not required on the opposite side of the cam following surface 406, the removed portion 407 is preferably secured. Thus, since the cam 401 having the removed portion 407 can decrease the size and weight of the cam 401 and can decrease the torque of the geared motor M for rotating the cam 401 as compared to a case where a convex curved cam following surface is formed on the entire periphery of the cam, it is possible to decrease the size of the geared motor M.
As shown in
Next, the shape of the blocking member 402 will be described with reference to
The blocking member 402 includes a cam rotation angle restricting portion 471 and the blocking tool 470. The cam rotation angle restricting portion 471 is adjacent to the cam 401, and a projection 472 protrudes from the inner surface of the cam rotation angle restricting portion 471. This projection 472 is a portion that receives the cam stopper pin 405 on the cam 401 in a tube open state shown in
The blocking tool 470 is molded integrally with the cam rotation angle restricting portion 471, one end 470L of the blocking tool 470 is a movable end that moved downward in the direction indicated by U, and the other end 476 of the blocking tool 470 is attached to the central rotation shaft 479.
The blocking tool 470 has a pressing portion 475 for pressing against the tube 315, and the pressing portion 475 faces a fixing portion 474 of the frame 318. The tube 315 is disposed between the pressing portion 475 of the blocking tool 470 and the fixing portion 474. In this manner, when the blocking tool 470 is moved downward in the direction indicated by U from the tube open state shown in
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
This electric circuit is mounted on the control board 314 shown in
The thermistor 453 shown in
The green LED 321G shown in
In this case, when the green, red, and yellow LEDs 321G, 321Y, and 321Y are lit, respective light beams are diffused from and displayed on the display 312 on the front side of the side surface 304A of the front cover 304 shown in
Next, a use example of the overheating detection unit 300 described above will be described.
<During Battery Attachment>
As shown in
In this manner, since the protection cover 303 can be removed from and assembled into the front cover 304 and the rear cover 305 using only one screw 329, the user can easily perform a disassembling and assembling operation and the operation of attaching a new battery 317 and replacing an old battery 317 with a new battery 317.
When the battery 317 is attached to the main body 302 in the above described manner, the control unit 450 shown in
In this case, when the yellow LED 321Y is lit, yellow light is diffused from and displayed on the display 312 on the front side of the side surface 304A of the front cover 304 shown in
<Overheating Detection Mode>
When a new battery is attached instead of a consumed battery, the control unit 450 of
When the green LED 321G is lit, green light is diffused from and displayed on the display 312 on the front side of the side surface 304A of the front cover 304. That is, since diffusion ink is applied to the display 312, it is possible to diffuse the directivity of the light emitted from the light emitting diode (LED) and to diffuse the light emitted from the LED. In this manner, it is possible to obtain satisfactory visibility even when the LED is blinking. The control unit 450 repeatedly performs the above-described normal operation. In periods other than the normal operation in the “overheating detection mode”, the control unit 450 is in a sleep state to prevent consumption of the battery 317, and overheating detection can be performed reliably.
Subsequently, as shown in
On the other hand, the outer end 310M of the oxygen outlet portion 310 is detachably connected to the coupler socket 23 of the nasal cannula 22 shown in
<During Overheating Detection>
When the overheating detection unit 300 is in the overheating detection mode described above, if the temperature of the oxygen outlet portion 310 detected by the thermistor 453 shown in
Moreover, when the temperature of the oxygen outlet portion 310 is equal to or higher than a predetermined temperature (for example, 40° C.) and the temperature rise rate exceeds a predetermined rise rate (for example, 1.0° C./second) for five seconds, the control unit 450 shown in
<Oxygen Cut-Off Operation>
When oxygen is cut during overheating detection, the tube 315 is put into a blocked state from the open state as shown in
In the oxygen cut-off state shown in
In this manner, the oxygen cut-off state can be maintained even when the remaining battery capacity is empty since the flat surface 408 is formed on the cam 401. Thus, it is possible to reliably maintain the oxygen cut-off state without ending the oxygen cut-off state and to prevent oxygen from leaking from the oxygen outlet portion 310 to thereby secure safety.
When oxygen is cut, the control unit 450 that controls the entire operation of the overheating detection unit 300 including a RAM, a flash ROM, and a microcomputer shown in
In
<Battery Warning>
In this embodiment, an operation lamp, for example, is provided as an alarming portion so that the operation of the overheating detection unit can be checked when the voltage of the battery 317 shown in
<Anti-Sticking>
However, when the overheating detection unit 300 attached to the oxygen concentrator 10 does not operate the geared motor M for a long period of time, a phenomenon (so-called “anchoring phenomenon”) in which the rotor of the geared motor M is stuck to the stator may occur. In order to prevent the phenomenon where the rotor is stuck to the stator, the output shaft of the geared motor M is rotated in the normal direction for 0.2 second, for example, the tube 315 is slightly crushed using the cam 401 as shown in
<Test Mode Button>
When the test mode button 320 shown in
The output shaft of the geared motor M is rotated in the normal direction so that the cam 401 crushes the tube 315. The red LED 321R which is the operation lamp emits red light and the buzzer 313 outputs sound. The buzzer 313 output sound for the first five seconds only.
After the elapse of 15 seconds, the output shaft of the geared motor M is rotated in the reverse direction, the cam 401 is rotated to release blocking of the tube 315 as shown in
Although the overheating detection unit 300 is configured to be attached to the step portion 15D of the operation panel 13 of the oxygen concentrator 10, since it is necessary to test and check the operation of the overheating detection unit 300 when attached, the test mode button 320 is prepared for the user to check the operation of the overheating detection unit 300. An electromagnetic induction coil may be provided to both the overheating detection unit 300 and the oxygen concentrator 100 instead of the battery 317 so as to supply power from the oxygen concentrator 100 to the overheating detection unit 300.
The present invention is not limited to the respective embodiments described above, but can be applied to a membrane separation-type oxygen concentrator that uses a membrane that selectively permeates oxygen. Moreover, the overheating detection unit can be applied to an oxygen supply device that uses an oxygen cylinder.
Part of constituent components described in the above embodiments may be omitted, and combinations with other components that are not described above also fall within the scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-258268 | Nov 2010 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2011/006413 | 11/17/2011 | WO | 00 | 7/24/2013 |
