The present invention relates to a medical atomizer, and more particularly to a universal atomizer which can operate effectively regardless of the placement orientation.
A medical atomizer is a device that converts medicament liquid into aerosol for release. Conventional atomizers can be roughly divided into two types. One type is a relatively large atomizer device which has a large volume and is not used in conjunction with a mechanical ventilation equipment. Instead, it has an internal pressurization device to work with an atomizing unit, so that atomized medicament is ultimately discharged through the help of the pressurization device.
The other type is a small atomizer which is generally connected to a breathing circuit arrangement. The medicament liquid comes into contact with the atomizer (mostly using a vibrating mesh) because of the gravity of the liquid itself, so that the vibrating mesh converts the medicament liquid into aerosol medicament, which is then supplied to the patient through the breathing circuit arrangement.
However, the conventional atomizers have an unavoidable problem, which is the lack of an internal liquid pressurization device. All the medicament liquid can only come into contact with the mesh nebulizer through gravity. This also means that the medicament liquid in conventional atomizers must be in a vertical direction (along the gravity line) with the vibrating mesh. Once tilted, the stability of its operation will be greatly affected. At the same time, the structural characteristics of small atomizers also require the center of gravity of the atomizer itself to be located above the position of the breathing circuit arrangement. If the small atomizer is not properly fixed, the operation of atomization will be extremely unstable.
As an example, a Chinese invention patent application, which has an application number CN201810447186.3, titled “medical nebulizer”, application date May 1, 2018, has disclosed a conventional medical atomizer. During its operation, an atomizing cup body, an atomizing unit , and a mouthpiece must all be aligned along the gravity line in order to function. Once inverted, it will be unable to operate, and tilting will also result in incomplete contact between the liquid in the atomizing cup body and the atomizing unit, greatly reducing the atomization efficiency.
As another example, a Chinese invention patent application, which has an application number CN201310330959.7, titled “portable medical nebulizer”, application date Aug. 1, 2013, has disclosed another conventional medical atomizer. During its use, it must be ensured that the empty cavity container and the mesh nebulizer are in a predominantly vertical position. Once excessively tilted or inverted, the electric circuit will be disconnected and the mesh nebulizer will stop working. This avoids the continual working problem of the mesh nebulizer, but fundamentally fails to solve the issue of incorrect placement of the nebulizer affecting normal atomization operation.
In view of the above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention provides an universal atomizer comprising an outer shell, a medicament feeding unit, an atomizing unit, a medicament delivering vessel in communication with the medicament feeding unit and a depressurization receptacle in communication with the medicament delivering vessel which is capable of generating an elastic force.
The atomizing unit is set at the atomizing port of the depressurization receptacle, and the atomizing unit is provided with a mist outlet for connecting with a breathing circuit arrangement.
The medicament delivering vessel comprises an elastic membrane bladder that provides a driving power for the discharge of the liquid.
The depressurization receptacle is provided with a pressure relief structure, and the pressure relief structure comprises a plurality of medicament delivery channels. The medicament liquid in the medicament delivering vessel is discharged through a plurality of the medicament delivery channels and converges in the same plane. The plurality of medicament delivery channels is symmetrically distributed or uniformly distributed around a center.
Preferably, the number of medicament delivery channels is even and there are arranged with a symmetrical distribution. The dispensing directions of two symmetrical medicament delivery channels are aligned with each other.
Preferably, the number of medicament delivery channels is odd and the are uniformly distributed around a center, and the medicament delivery channels of the uniformly distributed medicament delivery channels converge at the center.
The preferred elastic medicament liquid container further comprises a medicament guiding tube, and the elastic membrane bladder is a tubular elastic membrane bladder, which is fixedly wrapped around the medicament guiding tube. The two ends of the medicament guiding tube are respectively connected to the medicament feeding unit and the depressurization receptacle. The medicament guiding tube is provided with a liquid passage hole
Preferably, the proximal end of the medicament guiding tube adjacent to the atomizing unit comprises a multi-channel structure, the multi-channel structure comprises a side channel n communication with the outside and one or more branch channels leading to the atomizing unit. The side channel is embedded with a film that is water stopping while is gas permeable, and each branch channel is provided with a medicament outlet near one end of the atomizing unit, and a diversion projection is set at the top of the branch channels. The diversion projection abuts against the atomizing unit and couples with the branch channels to form a plurality of the medicament delivery channels.
Preferably, the outer wall of the medicament guiding tube is provided with a plurality of protruding rings for fixing and sealing the elastic membrane bladder.
Correspondingly, the end walls of the elastic membrane bladder are thick, and the inner diameter of the elastic membrane bladder is smaller than the outer diameter of the wrapped portion of the medicament guiding tube, and the elastic membrane bladder is tightly wound around the protruding rings at the outer side of the outer wall of the medicament guiding tube; the middle wall of the elastic membrane bladder is thinner and is covering and wrapping the outer side of the liquid passage hole in the middle section of the medicament guiding tube.
The elastic membrane bladder can be made of PET or silicone material.
Preferably, the atomizing unit comprises a vibrating mesh, and the positive and negative electrodes of the vibrating mesh are connected to a socket interface on a side wall of the outer shell.
Preferably, the contact surface between the atomizing unit and the outer shell, and the contact surface between the atomizing unit and the medicament guiding tube, are respectively provided with elastic sealing rings.
The connecting surface between the medicament feeding unit and the medicament delivering vessel is provided with a sealing ring.
Preferably, the outer shell is provided with an inlet connection port, and an outlet connection port which are connected to the breathing circuit arrangement.
The universal atomizer of the present invention has the following beneficial effects.
By the contraction of the elastic membrane bladder to supply pressure to the medicament liquid, the requirement for gravity is eliminated. Regardless of the angle at which the atomizer of the present invention is placed, the medicament liquid can be atomized, fundamentally solving the problem of the placing position of the conventional atomizer will determine whether the conventional atomizer can function properly.
By increasing the hydraulic pressure of the medicament liquid through the elastic membrane bladder, and then reducing the pressure by multiple medicament delivery channels to regulate the medicament liquid pressure at the depressurization receptacle, the continuous and stable operation of the atomizing unit is ensured.
The design of the multi-path structure can assist in the discharge of gas generated during the operation of the atomizing unit.
According to another aspect, the present invention provides an atomizer comprising a medicament feeding unit, a medicament delivering vessel, and an atomizing unit, wherein when the medicament liquid is fed into the medicament delivering vessel through the medicament feeding unit, the medicament delivering vessel is capable of generating an elastic driving force for driving the medicament liquid to be fed towards the atomizing unit for atomizing the medicament liquid.
Preferably, the medicament delivering vessel comprises a medicament guiding tube communicated to the medicament feeding unit, and an elastic membrane bladder wrapped around the medicament guiding tube, wherein an inflating chamber is defined between the elastic membrane bladder and the medicament guiding tube, wherein the medicament guiding tube has a guiding channel and one or more liquid passage holes communicating the guiding channel to the inflating chamber.
Preferably, the elastic membrane bladder comprises a middle section and two end sections connected to two ends of the middle section, wherein a thickness of the middle section is smaller than a thickness of each of the two end sections.
Preferably, the medicament guiding tube comprises one or more retaining rings at each of two ends thereof for frictional engagement with the corresponding end section of the elastic membrane bladder.
Preferably, each of the retaining rings has gradually reducing diameters along a direction towards the one or more liquid passage holes.
Preferably, an inner diameter of the elastic membrane bladder is smaller than or equal to an outer diameter of the medicament guiding tube.
Preferably, a material of the elastic membrane bladder is one of silicon material and polyethylene terephthalate.
Preferably, the atomizer further comprises a depressurization receptacle connected to the medicament guiding tube, wherein the depressurization receptacle has a curved medicament delivery passage for causing pressure loss of the medicament liquid, wherein the curved medicament delivery passage is communicated to the medicament delivering vessel for feeding the medicament liquid toward the atomizing unit.
Preferably, the curved medicament delivery passage comprises a receiving chamber communicated to the medicament delivering vessel and a plurality of branch channels communicated to the receiving chamber, and an atomizing area communicated to the plurality of branch channels, wherein the atomizing unit is facing towards the atomizing area.
Preferably, the depressurization receptacle comprises a receptacle body comprising an end surface, and a plurality of diversion protrusions protruded from the end surface to define the atomizing area.
Preferably, the curved medicament delivery passage comprises a plurality of diversion channels each is formed between two adjacent diversion protrusions.
Preferably, the plurality of diversion channels is configured in a manner that liquid flows of the medicament liquid collide with each other to form a balance zone in the atomizing area at a center of the plurality of diversion channels arranged in a circumferential direction.
Preferably, the plurality of diversion channels is evenly distributed along the circumferential direction and allow the liquid flows to converge in a same plane of the atomizing area.
Preferably, the plurality of diversion channels is grouped in pairs, where the two diversion channels of each pair are symmetrically arranged with each other.
Preferably, the depressurization receptacle further comprises a first sealing ring provided between the end surface of the receptacle body and the atomizing unit, wherein the atomizing area is formed within the first sealing ring.
Preferably, an extending direction of each of the branch channels is vertical to a plane of the atomizing area.
Preferably, the curved medicament delivery passage further comprises one or more side channels communicated to the receiving chamber, wherein each of the one or more side channels is provided with a gas permeable film that is water stopping for dispersing air bubbles generated in the depressurization receptacle to the outside.
Preferably, the depressurization receptacle further comprises one or more mounting members for mounting the one or more gas permeable films at the one or more side channels respectively, wherein each of the one or more mounting members has a through hole for communicating the corresponding gas permeable film to the outside.
Preferably, the medicament feeding unit comprises a sealing housing, a sealing plunger arranged in the sealing housing, a resilient valve ring, and a spring which is connected to the sealing plunger and the sealing housing, wherein the wherein the medicament feeding unit has an injection port and a feeding passage, wherein the sealing plunger comprises a plunger rod and an abutting ring connected to the plunger rod, the sealing housing has an inner step, the resilient valve ring is provided between the inner step of the sealing housing and the abutting ring of the sealing plunger, so that the injection port communicated to the feeding passage between the sealing plunger and the sealing housing is capable of being sealed by the resilient valve ring.
Preferably, the atomizing unit comprises an atomizing layer and a ring-shaped piezoelectric ceramic layer stacked on the atomizing layer.
As shown in
The medicament is injected into the medicament delivering vessel 3 from the medicament feeding unit 2 through an injector, and finally converges at the depressurization receptacle 5, the atomizing unit 4 is provided at an atomizing port of the depressurization receptacle 5, and a mist outlet 40 is provided at the atomizing unit 4 for communication with a breathing circuit arrangement, the converged medicament contacts with the atomizing unit 4 and is atomized into fine mist by the atomizing unit 4, and finally enters the breathing circuit arrangement through the mist outlet 40 and is inhaled by a patient.
The breathing circuit arrangement is a generic term for describing the pipeline equipment used by the patient for breathing during mechanical ventilation. The medicament mist atomized by the atomizing unit 4 will be discharged into the breathing circuit arrangement and directly inhaled by the patient.
The essential structure of the medicament feeding unit 2 is a medical valve structure comprising but not limited to a pressure injection valve, a three-way valve, a check valve, and an infusion switch.
Referring to
The structure of the pressure injection valve comprises a sealing housing embedded at an injection port of the outer shell for fixed connection with the outer shell 1, a sealing plunger arranged inside the sealing housing, and the sealing plunger is limited by a spring on one side inside the sealing housing.
Under normal conditions, the spring is fitted on the outside of the sealing plunger, with one end abutting against an inner cavity wall of the sealing housing and the other end abutting against a sealing ring of the sealing plunger, so that the sealing ring abuts the injection port of the inner cavity of the sealing housing, thereby blocking the communication between the inner cavity of the sealing housing and the outside.
When the syringe is inserted through the injection port, the spring is compressed, and the sealing ring is separated from the injection port, allowing the liquid to flow through the gap between the injection port and the sealing plunger into the medicament delivering vessel 3. When the syringe is removed from the injection port, the spring returns to its original position, and the pressure injection valve returns to its normal state.
The medicament delivering vessel 3 comprises an elastic membrane bladder 32 that provides driving power for the discharge of the medicament liquid which is stored in the elastic membrane bladder 32 through the medicament feeding unit 2. The thickness range of the elastic membrane bladder 32 for medicament storage is 0.08-0.8 mm, and the actual amount of medicament that can be accommodated is 5 ml-20 ml. The internal hydraulic pressure is 0-170 mmHg. The commonly used amount of nebulized medicament liquid for patients is 10 ml, and the hydraulic pressure inside the elastic membrane bladder 32 is 115-140 mmHg.
Since the atomizing unit 4 needs to work in a certain environment, referring to
In case of excessive pressure, the high-frequency resonance will be affected, and when the strong pressure state is maintained for about 30 s, it will cause the inability for maintaining effective vibration, so it needs to be combined with the depressurization receptacle 5 for pressure relief treatment.
Referring to
When multiple medicament delivery channels 51 are symmetrically or uniformly distributed around the center, the outflow of liquid will form a vortex after entering the same plane. At the same time as the pressure is reduced again, it also cooperates with the atomization process of atomizing unit 4, ultimately achieving the pressure dynamic balance.
When the atomizing unit 4 is embodied as a vibrating mesh. The maximum pressure during normal operation must be less than 155 mmHg. Once exceeded, it will cause difficulty in vibrating the vibrating mesh and make atomization difficult. After the pressure loss through the medicament delivery channels 51, the pressure is generally maintained between 135-145 mmHg (with fluctuations of 0-2 mmHg depending on the placement position).
It should be stated here that after the medicament liquid is injected into the medicament delivering vessel 3, it will directly be fed into the depressurization receptacle 5. At this time, the pressure is in an overloaded state, but it will not damage the atomizing unit 4 itself and its initial working state. Once the atomizing unit 4 starts working, the liquid starts to flow, and the hydraulic pressure near the atomizing unit 4 will decrease significantly, and the atomizing unit 4 will also enter a normal working mode.
The two ways of configuring and distributing the medicament delivery channels 51 are described in the following description.
When the number of the medicament delivery channels 51 is even, they are symmetrically distributed, and the medicament dispensing ports of two symmetrically distributed medicament delivery channels 51 are respectively aligned withe each other.
The medicament delivery channels 51 are grouped in pairs, and the liquid flows collide and cancel each other out, forming a balance zone in the center. In this balance zone, from the outside to the center, the pressure gradually decreases, and the liquid flow also slows down gradually. This corresponds to the working area of the vibrating mesh from low to high efficiency under normal conditions. Under the continuous operation of the vibrating mesh, the medicament liquid at the center is efficiently atomized, forcing the continuous flow of the medicament liquid to form a dynamic balance. When multiple sets of medicament delivery channels 51 are evenly distributed around the center of the vibrating mesh, it will form a dynamic balance that is beneficial to the overall situation, so as to facilitate the normal operation of the atomizing unit 4.
Alternatively, if the number of the medicament delivery channels 51 is odd, they are evenly distributed around a center, and the medicament dispensing ports of the evenly distributed medicament delivery channels 51 converge at the center.
The medicament dispensing channels 51 are uniformly distributed around the center or symmetrically distributed, so that the medicament liquid flowing out of the medicament dispensing ports will form a vortex or collide with each other, eventually forming a balanced region in the center. This balanced region has similar functions and results as mentioned above.
It should be noted that the structure of the vibrating mesh is disc-shaped, and the most efficient working area is located in the center, which corresponds exactly to the above-mentioned balanced region.
Referring to
Referring to
The medicament guiding tube 31 has a tubular shape, with one end in contact with the atomizing unit 4 for cooperation, and the other end connected to the medicament feeding unit 2 for medicament liquid delivering. During the nebulization process, the elastic membrane bladder 32 supplies hydraulic pressure through its own elasticity and continuously shrinks, but always confines the medicament liquid. During the shrinking process, the supply pressure of the elastic membrane bladder 32 is unstable, which is due to the instability of the liquid flow direction and the instability of the supply pressure.
In order to maintain the stability of the supply pressure, that is, to prevent excessive pressure in the initial supply pressure state, a flow direction change is formed by the liquid passage hole 311 at the side wall of the medicament guiding tube 31, forcing the occurrence of a dead water area or a vortex area, and causing pressure loss. The greater the initial pressure, the greater the pressure loss, and the final supply pressure will be within a certain range.
The tubular structure of the medicament guiding tube 31 itself will guide the liquid flow during the convergence process of the elastic membrane bladder 32, ultimately align the direction of the pressure. Finally, the medicament liquid and the atomizing unit 4 are always in an effective contacting state.
Referring to
An end of the medicament guiding tube 31 adjacent to the atomizing unit 4 comprises a multi-channel structure 30 which has a side channel 301 communicated to the outside and one or more branch channels 302 leading to the atomizing unit 4. The side channel 301 is embedded with a water stopping film that allows gas to pass through, and the branch channels 302 adjacent to one end of the atomizing unit 4 is provided with a medicament liquid outlet and a diversion protrusion 33 is set on the top. The diversion protrusion 33 is in contact with the atomizing unit 4 and is adjacent to the branch channels 302 to form the medicament delivery channels 51.
According to this embodiment, the structure of the depressurization receptacle 5 comprises two parts. One part is located inside the medicament guiding tube 31, that is, the multi-channel structure 30. The other part is the gap between the medicament guiding tube 31 and the atomizing unit 4. The composition of the wall for forming the gap comprises a bottom surface of the atomizing unit 4, a top surface of the branch channels 302, a sealing ring, and the diversion protrusion 33 located at the top of the medicament delivering vessel 3.
The depressurization receptacle 5 also comprises two functional parts, one functional part is the medicament delivery channels 51 for delivering the medicament liquid, and the other functional part is the pressure reduction and exhaust channel for discharging gas and forming a dead water zone.
Referring to
Referring to
When the atomizing unit 4 starts working, the medicament liquid is atomized and then the mist enters the breathing circuit arrangement through the atomizing unit 4, and the liquid in the elastic membrane bladder 32 is supplemented into the atomizing unit 4. During this process, there is continuous hydraulic loss, forming a dynamic balance.
Referring to
Referring to
Under normal circumstances, when atomization is occurring, the air entering the gap from the outside will accumulate and affect the operation of atomizing unit 4. However, by setting diversion ports here, it will work in conjunction with the vibration of the mesh of the atomizing unit 4 itself to disperse the tiny bubbles and force the bubbles to flow out from the diversion port. Due to the flow of the liquid, it will eventually converge in the multi-channel structure 30, and most of it will be discharged through the water stopping gas permeable film inside the side channel 301, while a small amount will accumulate and continue to be gradually discharged after reaching a certain level of accumulation. The amount of air remaining in the multi-channel structure 30 is very small and will not affect the normal operation of the atomizer itself.
Some of the medicament located in the side channel 301 will form a dead water area, assisting in reducing the hydraulic pressure of the medicament.
Based on the elastic medicament liquid chamber 3 mentioned above, as a preferred solution, the elastic medicament liquid chamber 3 comprises the combination and fixation of the elastic membrane bladder 32 and the medicament guiding tube 31, as shown in
The outer wall of the medicament guiding tube 31 is provided with one or more protruding rings for fixing and sealing the elastic membrane bladder 32.
Correspondingly, The end walls of the elastic membrane bladder 32 are thicker, and in the normal state, the inner diameter of the elastic membrane bladder 32 is smaller than the outer diameter of the wrapped portion of the medicament guiding tube 31, and the elastic membrane bladder 32 is tightly wound around the protruding rings at the outer side of the outer wall of the medicament guiding tube 31; the middle wall of the elastic membrane bladder 32 is thinner and is covering and wrapping the outer side of the liquid passage hole 311 in the middle section of the medicament guiding tube 31.
In this preferred embodiment, the protruding ring can be embodied to have a pagoda interface, and the orientation of the pagoda interface is toward the liquid passage hole 311, so as to obtain higher resistance. In order to balance the force on the elastic membrane bladder 32 , the protruding rings are evenly and equidistantly distributed on both sides of the liquid passage hole 311.
Referring to
The elastic membrane bladder 32 has a thin middle wall and good expandability, which facilitates the storage of medicament when it is injected and reduces the resistance received by the syringe. It also provides hydraulic pressure for the dynamic medicament liquid, which is more conducive to the operation of the atomizing unit 4. In order for meeting the above conditions, the elastic membrane bladder 32 can be made of PET or silicone material.
Based on the above, in this embodiment of the present invention, the atomizing unit 4 is preferably embodied as a vibrating mesh with mesh holes, and the positive and negative electrodes of the vibrating mesh are electrically connected to a socket interface on a side wall of the housing 1.
In order to provide a suitable working space for the atomizing unit 4, an elastic sealing ring is installed on the contact surface between the atomizing unit 4 and the outer shell 1, another elastic sealing ring is installed on the contact surface between the atomizing unit 4 and the medicament guiding tube 31. The working mode of the vibrating mesh of the atomizing unit 4 is vibration, and the elastic sealing ring can still have a sealing effect while ensuring the vibration environment of the vibrating mesh, especially on the contact surface with the medicament guiding tube 31. Once the elastic sealing ring fails to seal, it will cause internal medicament contamination and medicament leakage.
Due to the fact that in this device, the medicament feeding unit 2 and the medicament delivering vessel 3 inside the outer shell 1 are fixed by the outer shell 1, there is a certain gap between them. In order to prevent the liquid from flowing out, a sealing ring is provided on the connecting surface between the medicament feeding unit 2 and the medicament delivering vessel 3.
Referring to
Referring to
According to the present invention, the medicament delivering vessel 130 is able to generate an elastic driving force for causing the medicament liquid in the medicament delivering vessel 130 to be delivered towards the atomizing unit 140.
More specifically, the medicament delivering vessel 130 comprises a medicament guiding tube 131 which is communicated to the medicament feeding unit 120 and an elastic membrane bladder 132 which is wound and wrapped around the medicament guiding tube 131 in a manner that the medicament liquid fed into the medicament guiding tube 131 is able to reach an inflating chamber 1320 between the clastic membrane bladder 132 and the medicament guiding tube 131, so as to inflate the elastic membrane bladder 132, so that the elastic membrane bladder 132 is inflated and deformed to generate the elastic driving force for causing the medicament liquid to be continually forced into the depressurization receptacle 150 and finally reach to the atomizing unit 140.
As shown in
In other words, when the medicament liquid is fed into the medicament guiding tube 131, the medicament liquid will not directly pass through the atomizing unit 140 to be discharged. Instead, the medicament liquid will be temporarily stored in the inflating chamber 1320 of the elastic membrane bladder 132 to cause the elastic membrane bladder 132 to deform and inflate to accumulate the elastic potential energy. When the atomizing unit 140 is in operation to generate the medicament mist by the medicament liquid reaching to the atomizing unit 140, the medicament liquid stored in the inflating chamber 1320 between the elastic membrane bladder 132 and the medicament guiding tube 131 will be gradually fed towards the atomizing unit 140. The elastic membrane bladder 132 will gradually deflate because of the reducing volume of the medicament liquid in the inflating chamber 1320 and the elastic restoring force of the elastic membrane bladder 132 due to its own elasticity will drive the medicament liquid in the inflating chamber 1320 to be continually fed towards the atomizing unit 140.
The elastic membrane bladder 132 can be made of but not limited to silicon material or or polyethylene terephthalate. A thickness of the elastic membrane bladder 132 is preferably 0.08-0.8 mm, and the actual amount of medicament liquid that can be accommodated in the inflating chamber 1320 is 5 ml-20 ml. The internal hydraulic pressure is 0-170 mmHg. The commonly used amount of medicament liquid for patients is 10 ml, and the hydraulic pressure inside the elastic membrane bladder 132 is 115-140 mmHg.
As shown in
Preferably, the middle section 1321 of the elastic membrane bladder 132 may have an inner diameter than is slightly less than an outer diameter of the medicament guiding tube 131, so as to further enhance the firmly engagement between the medicament guiding tube 131 and the elastic membrane bladder 132.
The medicament guiding tube 131 may further comprise a plurality of retaining rings 1312 which are provided at each of the two end portions thereof for retaining the elastic membrane bladder 132. Accordingly, the retaining rings 1312 are spacedly arranged so as to enhance the frictional contact with the end portions 1322 of the elastic membrane bladder 132.
In addition, preferably, each of the retaining rings has a diameter that is gradually reducing towards the liquid passage hole 1311, so as to hook the end portions 1322 of the elastic membrane bladder 132 in position.
Since the atomizing unit 140 of this embodiment needs to work by means of electronic ultrasonic oscillation, the depressurization receptacle 150 is employed to provide a pressure relief effect, so as to avoid an excessive pressure of the medicament liquid around the atomizing unit 140 which will cause the atomizing unit 140 to not effectively function.
As shown in
The depressurization receptacle 150 has a curved medicament delivery passage 151 for dividing liquid flows or forming dead water zones or vortex zones due to changes in cross-section or the presence of corners, so as to achieve the pressure loss of the medicament liquid in the depressurization receptacle 150.
More specifically, the depressurization receptacle 150 comprises a receptacle body 152 which is integrally extended from the medicament guiding tube 131 and the receptacle body 152 is a hollow structure that forms a receiving chamber 1511 which is communicated to the guiding channel 1310 of the medicament guiding tube 131, one or more side channels 1512 communicated to the receiving chamber 1511, one or more branch channels 1513 communicated to the receiving chamber 1511 for delivering the medicament liquid to the atomizing unit 140.
The receptacle body 152 has an end surface 1521 facing towards the atomizing unit 140, the depressurization receptacle 150 further comprises a plurality of diversion protrusions 153 integrally protruded from the end surface 1521 for defining an atomizing area 1514 which is a space within the plurality of diversion protrusions 153 and a plurality of diversion channels 1515 formed between two adjacent diversion protrusions 153.
Accordingly, the curved medicament delivery passage 151 of this embodiment comprises the receiving chamber 1511 which is communicated to the guiding channel 1310 of the medicament guiding tube 131, the side channels 1512 communicated to the receiving chamber 1511, the branch channels 1513 communicated to the receiving chamber 1511 for delivering the medicament liquid to the atomizing area 1514, the atomizing area 1514, and the diversion channels 1515 between two adjacent diversion protrusions 153. The medicament liquid in the guiding channel 1310 of the medicament guiding tube 131 will enter the receiving chamber 1511, and then is guided into the branch channels 1513, and reach the atomizing area 1514 by passing through the diversion channels 1515. The atomizing unit 140 is facing the atomizing area 1514, so that the medicament liquid in the atomizing area 1514 will be atomized to produce the atomized medicament mist.
In this embodiment, as an example, the receptacle body 152 has two side channels 1512 which are transversely extended from the receiving chamber 1511, two branch channels 113 communicated to the receiving chamber 1511, six diversion protrusions 153 protruded from the end surface 1521 to define six diversion channels 1515 distributed along a circumferential direction and a central atomizing area 1514 communicated to the six diversion channels 1515, so that dead water zones or vortex zones are formed to result in pressure loss.
As shown in
Referring to
Alternatively, an electrical insulation layer may be provided between the atomizing layer 141 and the piezoelectric ceramic layer 142, both of the two electrode terminals 143 are electrically connected to the piezoelectric ceramic layer 142, so that when the driving voltage is input into the piezoelectric ceramic layer 142, the vibration of the piezoelectric ceramic layer 142 will drive the atomizing layer 141 to vibrate.
The maximum pressure during normal operation of the atomizing unit 140 must be less than 155 mmHg. Once exceeded, it will cause difficulty in vibrating the atomizing layer 141. After the pressure loss through the medicament delivery channels 151, the pressure is generally maintained between 135-145 mmHg, so as to ensure the stable operation of the atomizing unit 140.
As shown in
Under normal circumstances, when atomization is occurring, the air entering the atomizing area 1514 will accumulate and affect the operation of atomizing unit 140. However, by setting diversion protrusions 153, the vibration of the atomizing layer 141 of the atomizing unit 104 will disperse the tiny bubbles and force the bubbles to flow into the branch channels 1513 through the diversion channels 1515, so as to reach the receiving chamber 1511, and finally be discharged through the gas permeable films 154 inside the side channels 1512, , so that the amount of air remaining in the depressurization receptacle 150 is very small and will not affect the normal operation of the atomizing unit 140.
As shown in
The atomizing unit 140 further comprises a second sealing ring 144 which is provided between the piezoelectric ceramic layer 142 and the inner wall of the outer shell 110, so as to prevent the leakage of the medicament mist.
The medicament feeding unit 120 is a medical valve structure comprising but not limited to a pressure injection valve, a three-way valve, a check valve, and an infusion switch. In this embodiment, the medicament feeding unit 120 adopts a pressure injection valve which is essentially a check valve structure.
More specifically, as shown in
The structure of the pressure injection valve comprises a sealing housing embedded at an injection port of the outer shell for fixed connection with the outer shell 1, a sealing plunger arranged inside the sealing housing, and the sealing plunger is limited by a spring on one side inside the sealing housing.
During operation, when an syringe is inserted to supply the medicament liquid to the injection port 125 and drive the abutting ring 1222 of the sealing plunger 122 to bias against the spring 124, so as to compress the spring 124, and the resilient valve ring 123 is separated from the injection port 125, allowing the medicament liquid to flow into the feeding passage 126, so that the medicament liquid is fed into the medicament delivering vessel 120. When the syringe is removed from the injection port 125, the spring 124 returns to its original position, so as to restore the initial position of the resilient valve ring 123.
As shown in
The breathing circuit arrangement 200 comprises a connector 201, a gas feeding tube 202, a gas recycling tube 203, and a mist feeding tube 204 which can be connected to a trachea cannula or a breathing mask for feeding the medicament mist to the user. The connector 201 is connected to the outer shell 110 which has a mist outlet 111 for feeding the medicament mist into the inner cavity of the connector 201, the gas feeding tube 202 and the gas recycling tube 203 are connected to the connector 201 for feeding gas or recycling gas, and the mist feeding tube 204 is connected to the connector 201 for supplying the medicament mist to the user.
Accordingly, in this embodiment, when a volume of medicament liquid is injected into the medicament feeding unit 120, the medicament liquid will be guided into the guiding channel 1310 of the medicament guiding tube 131 through the feeding passage 126, and then enter the inflating chamber 1320 between the medicament guiding tube 131 and the elastic membrane bladder 132 through the liquid passage hole 1311, so as to inflate the elastic membrane bladder 132, and thus the medicament liquid can be stored in the elastic membrane bladder 132.
When the atomizing unit 140 is turned on for operation, the medicament liquid flow will flow back into the medicament guiding tube 131 through the liquid passage hole 1311 and is guided into the receiving chamber 1511 of the depressurization receptacle 150. And then the medicament liquid will flow into the atomizing area 1514 by passing through the branch channels 1513 and the diversion channels 1515, so that the medicament liquid is converged in the atomizing area 1514, and the flowing path of the medicament liquid will result in the pressure loss of the flow of the medicament liquid in the depressurization receptacle 150, so as to ensure a suitable pressure environment for the atomizing unit 140 which will atomize the medicament liquid in the atomizing area 1514 to produce the medicament mist which is feed into the breathing circuit arrangement 200 through the mist outlet 111.
The above embodiments are merely illustrative examples to explain the principles and effects of the present patent application, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present patent application. Anyone skilled in the art can modify or change the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present patent application. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or changes made by those skilled in the art in the relevant technical field, based on the spirit and technical ideas disclosed in the present patent application, should still be covered by the claims of the present patent application.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202310208453.2 | Mar 2023 | CN | national |