Variable orifice rotary valves for controlling gas flow

Inventors

Gur, Ory

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 relates to a gas flow control system that includes a blower type medical ventilator for ventilating patients. A control valve is provided for use in the ventilator, the control valve comprising a valve housing and a cylindrical valve element. The valve housing has a hollow cylindrical open-ended interior passage and a housing opening formed in a wall of the housing, and the cylindrical valve element includes a valve element 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 an overlapped opening. The size of the overlapped opening is varied by rotation of the cylindrical valve element within the interior passage of the valve housing, and no more than one overlapped opening is formed at any point of rotation.

The overlap-based tapered opening arrangement is used to obtain a proportional flow valve. Additional disclosed embodiments include alignment and homing apertures for a zero positioning orientation and actuator behavior compatible with blower ventilation, including exhaust port behavior that opens when the outlet port is closed. Further embodiments disclose multi-cutout cylinder or selector modules for switching between adult/neonate flow ranges and/or gas mixing/blending using multiple inlet gases with opposite taper directions.

In disclosed material embodiments, low-friction and long-life constructions are used, including a graphite cylinder with glass lining/passages and optional low-friction polymer configurations. A disclosed directional airflow/flow director concept is also mentioned in relation to the valve module arrangement for gas flow control.

Claims Coverage

The document contains one independent claim (clm-00001) defining the proportional flow valve structure and rotation-dependent overlap behavior in a blower type medical ventilator. Dependent claims (e.g., clm-00002 through clm-00011) further refine structural constraints and an alignment condition tied to gas exiting through the overlapped opening, and add specific material selection in at least one embodiment.

Across the independent claim basis and its dependent refinements, the claimed inventive concept is a proportional flow valve implemented by a rotatable cylindrical valve element overlapping tapered housing and/or valve openings to define an overlapped opening whose size changes with rotation, with the further refinements that at most one overlapped opening is formed at any point of rotation, optionally constrained to at most one housing opening and at most one valve element opening, with an alignment-based condition for gas exiting through the overlapped opening, and disclosed graphite construction for the cylindrical valve element.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications