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Assignees
Member
Origin Medical DevicesOrigin Medical Devices develops next-generation ventilator technology focused on universal accessibility, advanced patient support, and streamlined clinical care. Their ventilators serve from neonatal through adult patients and integrate multiple ventilation modes, advanced monitoring, and adaptability for both high- and low-resource settings. The company prioritizes reliability, operational simplicity, and adherence to robust regulatory and quality standards.
Origin Medical Devices develops next-generation ventilator technology focused on universal accessibility, advanced patient support, and streamlined clinical care. Their ventilators serve from neonatal through adult patients and integrate multiple ventilation modes, advanced monitoring, and adaptability for both high- and low-resource settings. The company prioritizes reliability, operational simplicity, and adherence to robust regulatory and quality standards.
Publication Number
US-10036477-B2
Publication Date
2018-07-31
Expiration Date
Abstract
Gas flow control valves comprising a valve housing including a cylindrical interior passage, and a housing opening extending from the interior passage through the housing. The gas flow control valve further comprises a cylindrical rotary valve element including a sidewall, and a rotary valve element opening extending through the sidewall. The valve element is rotatably received within the interior passage of the valve housing, such that the housing opening may be selectively aligned with the rotary valve element opening, and an area of overlap of the housing opening and the valve element opening may be varied by rotating the valve element within the interior passage of the valve housing.
Core Innovation
The invention provides a gas flow control system for a blower type medical ventilator. A control valve includes a valve housing with a hollow cylindrical open-ended interior passage and not more than one housing opening formed in a wall of the housing, and a cylindrical valve element having a valve element inlet and not more than one opening in a wall thereof. The housing opening and/or the valve element opening is tapered.
The cylindrical valve element is rotatably received within the interior passage of the valve housing so that an area of overlap of the housing opening and the cylindrical valve element opening forms a single outlet or forms a single inlet, depending on the recited structure. The size of that single outlet or single inlet is varied by rotation of the cylindrical valve element within the interior passage, thereby obtaining a proportional flow valve.
The disclosure further describes that gas exits through the single outlet when the housing opening and the cylindrical valve element opening are at least partially aligned. It also describes structural and implementation details for medical ventilator use, including valve configurations with a tapered outlet cutout and an enabled bypass/exhaust passage when the main outlet is closed. Additional disclosed embodiments extend the concept to multi-cutout cylindrical valve elements for different flow ranges, a selector module for switching among outlets or inlets, gas mixing or blending using opposing tapered cutouts with opposite taper directions, and directional airflow and direction-and-flow control embodiments.
Claims Coverage
The independent claims are clm-00001 and clm-00010. Each independent claim recites a blower type medical ventilator gas flow control system using a proportional flow valve implemented with a tapered housing opening and/or tapered valve element opening, where rotation changes the overlap area to form a single outlet or a single inlet.
Proportional flow valve formed by tapered overlap
A control valve comprising a valve housing with a hollow cylindrical open-ended interior passage and not more than one housing opening, and a cylindrical valve element with a valve element inlet and not more than one opening, wherein the housing opening and/or the valve element opening is tapered and the cylindrical valve element is rotatably received within the interior passage such that an area of overlap of the housing opening and the cylindrical valve element opening forms a single outlet whose size is varied by rotation to thereby obtain a proportional flow valve.
Proportional flow valve forming a single inlet by tapered overlap
A control valve comprising a valve housing with a hollow cylindrical open-ended interior passage and not more than one housing opening, and a cylindrical valve element comprising a valve element outlet and not more than one opening, wherein the housing opening and/or the valve element opening is tapered and the cylindrical valve element is rotatably received within the interior passage such that an area of overlap of the housing opening and the cylindrical valve element opening forms a single inlet whose size is varied by rotation to thereby obtain a proportional flow valve.
Across both independent claims, the proportional flow behavior is obtained by rotating a cylindrical valve element relative to a tapered housing opening so that overlap between openings varies, forming a single flow interface. Dependent refinements described in the provided claim list focus on taper placement, end conditions of the valve element, and material selections such as graphite, with at least partial alignment tied to exit through the single outlet.
Stated Advantages
Fine control over a large rotation span.
Low pressure drop at high flow.
Fast closed-to-open response via small angular movement.
Reduced wear.
Documented Applications
A medical ventilator blower application using the proportional flow valve.
Flow range selection for adult vs neonate/infant.
Gas mixing/blending using opposing tapered cutouts.
Directional airflow and direction-and-flow control embodiments.
Applications beyond ventilators are mentioned.
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