Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6832629
-
Patent Number
6,832,629
-
Date Filed
Thursday, March 28, 200222 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, December 21, 200420 years ago
-
CPC
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US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 137 62521
- 137 62522
- 137 554
- 060 407
- 060 411
- 060 412
- 005 713
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International Classifications
- F16K1102
- F16K3700
- A47C2708
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Abstract
A rapid inflation and venting air valve of an airbed comprises at least one air inlet, a lower opening, cover openings, and, joint tubes; and a blower having a wind suction opening and a wind transfer tube. When the wind transfer tube is communicated with the air inlet and the joint tubes, air can be inflated into airbags. When the wind suction opening is communicated with the lower opening and the joint tubes, air can be vented out. Thereby, by only operating the rotary element, the functions of inflation and venting can be performed rapidly. As a result the object of emergency rescue is achieved. The air valve integrates the functions of inflation and venting in one unit by only one blower so as to simplify the structure and lower the cost.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to air valves, and particularly to a rapid inflation and venting air valve of an airbed, wherein a high flow blower is used. By operating a rotary element, the inflation and venting of air in the airbed can be performed rapidly.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A medical airbed is used to prevent a patient lying on the bed for a longer time from getting bedsore. Since the patients using airbeds are series cases and they have the following problems necessary to be improved.
1. When an emergency event occurs, for performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation operation, air in the airbed must be released rapidly.
2. In the prior art, the inflation time is about 40 minutes. It is too long to be acceptable. In another prior art, a blower for being used in an airbed is developed for air inflation. However, the airbed has a plurality of air inlets and thus it is necessary to fill air into these air inlets. The operation is very complicated and more labor time is necessary.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a rapid inflation and venting air valve of an airbed which comprises at least one air inlet, a lower opening, cover openings, and, joint tubes; and a blower having a wind suction opening and a wind transfer tube. When the wind transfer tube is communicated with the air inlet and the joint tubes, air can be inflated into airbags. When the wind suction opening is communicated with the lower opening and the joint tubes, air can be vented out. Thereby, by only operating the rotary element, the functions of inflation and venting can be performed rapidly. As a result, the object of emergency rescue is achieved. The air valve integrates the functions of inflation and venting in one unit by only one blower so as to simplify the structure and lower the cost.
The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is an exploded perspective view of the present invention.
FIG. 2
is another exploded perspective view of the present invention.
FIG. 3
is a further exploded perspective view of the present invention.
FIG. 4
is a schematic view showing the inflation operation of the present invention.
FIG. 5
is another schematic view showing the inflation operation of the present invention.
FIG. 6
is a schematic view showing the venting operation of the present invention.
FIG. 7
is another schematic view includes the venting operation of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The rapid inflation and venting air valve of an airbed of the present invention will be described in the following with the appended drawings.
Referring to
FIGS. 1
,
2
, and
3
, the air valve
7
of the present invention includes a rotary element
2
, an outer casing
3
, an inner rotary body
4
, and a rotary cover
5
, etc. The air valve
7
must be used with a blower
6
so the two is formed as a combinational structure and then the combinational structure is installed with a first lateral cover
11
and a second lateral cover
12
.
An inner side of the rotary element
2
is extended with a driving shaft
21
. The driving shaft
21
passes through a predetermined portion of the first lateral cover
11
to be connected to the outer casing
3
.
The outer casing
3
is a hollow tube and is horizontally arranged from the viewpoint of the drawings. A lateral side of the outer casing
3
has an air inlet
31
and a plurality of jointing tubes
33
. One end of the outer casing
3
is an opening portion
32
. The opposite side with respect to the opening portion
32
is a closing end. The closing end has a plurality of apertures
35
and a through hole
36
. Moreover, a sensing switch
34
is installed on an edge of the lateral side of the outer casing
3
.
The inner rotary body
4
has a size slightly smaller than the outer casing
3
. A spacer
41
is installed in the center portion of the inner rotary body
4
. A first opening
42
and a second opening
43
are formed on one end portion of the inner rotary body
4
. The first opening
42
and the second opening
43
are exactly at two sides of the spacer
41
. The lateral side of the inner rotary body
4
is a shroud
44
and a notch
45
is formed on the shroud
44
. A driving axial hole
46
is formed on the end portion having the openings
42
and
43
.
The rotary cover
5
is utilized to cover the inner rotary body
4
. The rotary cover
5
exactly covers the inner rotary body
4
and then the two are assembled as one integral body. The shape of the rotary cover
5
is exactly corresponding to the opening portion
32
of the outer casing
3
. The cover of the rotary cover
5
has two openings
51
,
52
.
An interior of the blower
6
has a motor which has fans and other components. The blower
6
has a wind transfer tube
61
and a wind suction opening
62
. To actuate the blower
6
and the air valve
7
, in the present invention, a wind guide mask
63
and a cover plate
64
are installed. The cover plate
64
is used to cover one end of the blower
6
having the wind suction opening
62
; and the wind guide mask
63
is installed aside the cover plate
64
for guiding airflow.
In assembling the air valve
7
, at first, the rotary cover
5
is locked to the inner rotary body
4
through screws
59
. The outer casing
3
is locked to a predetermined position of the wind guide mask
63
through screws
39
. The wind transfer tube
61
of the blower
6
is connected to the air inlet
31
of the outer casing
3
. The inner rotary body
4
is placed in the outer casing
3
. The driving shaft
21
of the rotary element
2
passes through the first lateral cover
11
, a through hole
631
on the wind guide mask
63
, the through hole
36
and then it is buckled in the driving axial hole
46
.
With reference to
FIGS. 4 and 5
, when it is desired to rapidly inflate an airbed (not shown), the rotary element
2
is placed in a normal condition. Then, by actuating the blower
6
, air is sucked into the outer casing
3
from the openings
51
, and
52
. By the isolating effect of the spacer
41
, air will flow into the wind guide mask
63
from the lower opening
35
, and then passes through the wind suction opening
62
of the blower
6
. Then air is outputted from the wind transfer tube
61
. Next, the air is transferred to the air inlet
31
to the outer casing
3
. By the isolating effect of the spacer
41
, air may flow into each joint tube
33
. Thereby, each airbag of the airbed is filled with air and air can be inflated rapidly.
When air is fully inflated in the airbags, when in an emergency condition occurs, a CPR is necessary to be performed, the air within the airbed is necessary to be vented out rapidly. With reference to
FIGS. 6
, and
7
, the user only needs to rotate the rotary element
2
to drive the driving shaft
21
so that the inner rotary body
4
rotates to a predetermined angle. Then, the air outputted from the wind transfer tube
61
of the blower
6
is guided to an interior of the outer casing
3
. Since the first opening
42
at one end of the outer casing
3
is closed, and position of the spacer
41
is changed, it is isolated with the airbed. As a result air only vents out from the openings
51
and
52
. The air originally in the airbags of the airbed flows to the interior of the outer casing
3
through the jointing tubes
33
. Since the position of the spacer
41
causes that the joint tube
33
is communicated with the second opening
43
and the lower opening
35
. Moreover, since the lower opening
35
is connected to the wind suction opening
62
of the blower
6
. Thereby, by the blower
6
to suck air, the air in the joint tube
33
can be pumped or drained out quickly.
The sensing switch
34
and a protrusion
53
have the effect of monitoring the condition.
In a prior art airbed, the blower
6
may achieve the object of rapid inflation, while the air cannot be drained out rapidly. However, an emergency rescue must be performed immediately. If the air in the airbags can be vented out rapidly, the patient may have a high possibility to be cured. The present invention integrates the functions of inflation and venting in one unit by only one blower so as to simply the structure and lower the cost.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details described thereof. Various substitutions and modifications have been suggested in the foregoing description, and others will occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, all such substitutions and modifications are intended to be embraced within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Claims
- 1. A rapid inflation and venting air valve comprising a rotary element, an outer casing, an inner rotary body, a rotary cover, and a blower and being placed in a first lateral cover and a second lateral cover; characterized in that:an inner side of the rotary element is extended with a driving shaft; the driving shaft passes through a predetermined portion of the first lateral cover to be connected to the outer casing; the outer casing is a hollow tube and; a lateral side of the outer casing has an air inlet and a plurality of jointing tubes; one end of the outer casing is an opening portion; the opposite side with respect to the opening portion is a closing end; the closing end has a plurality of apertures and a through hole; the inner rotary body has a size slightly smaller than the outer casing; a spacer is installed in a center of the inner rotary body; a first opening and a second opening are formed on one end portion of the inner rotary body; the first opening and the second opening are exactly at two sides of the spacer; a lateral side of the inner rotary body is a shroud and a notch is formed on the shroud; a driving axial hole is formed on the end portion having the first and second openings; the rotary cover is utilized to cover the inner rotary body; the rotary cover exactly covers the inner rotary body and then the two are assembled as one integral body; the shape of the rotary cover is exactly corresponding to the opening portion of the outer casing; the rotary cover has two cover openings; and the blower has a wind transfer tube and a wind suction opening; a cover plate is used to cover one end of the blower having the wind suction opening; and a wind guide mask is installed aside the cover plate for guiding airflow.
- 2. The rapid inflation and venting air valve as claimed in claim 1, wherein one edge of the outer casing has a sensing switch, and a protrusion is formed at a predetermined position of the rotary cover; thereby, the sensing switch detects one condition of the air valve by sensing a condition of the protrusion.
- 3. A rapid inflation and venting air valve as claimed in claim 1, wherein when the wind transfer tube is communicated with the air inlet and the joint tubes, air is inflated into airbags; when the wind suction opening is communicated with the apertures and the joint tubes, air is vented out.
US Referenced Citations (12)