Impeller and a pressure support system and method using such a method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A radial impeller comprising:
- a hub attachable to a rotating shaft;
an impeller body attached to the hub and extending radially from the hub to a perimeter of the impeller and having opposed radial faces; and
a plurality of impeller blades disposed on one face of the impeller body, each impeller blade extending from a leading end of the blade generally adjacent the hub toward a trailing end of the blade generally at the perimeter of the impeller, wherein an inlet area is defined between each pair of adjacent blades generally adjacent the hub, with each inlet area being defined as the area at the radius of the leading end of the adjacent blades bounded by a height of the leading end of the adjacent blades and the one face of the impeller body, and wherein an outlet area is defined between each pair of adjacent blades generally adjacent the perimeter of the impeller, with each outlet area being defined as the area at the radius of the trailing end of the adjacent blades bounded by the height of the trailing end of the adjacent blades and the one face of the impeller body, wherein each inlet area is substantially equal to each corresponding outlet area for each pair of adjacent blades.
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Abstract
An impeller, a pressure generator using such an impeller, and a pressure support system and method using such a pressure generator to deliver a flow of breathing gas to a patient is disclosed. The impeller enables a pressure of a flow of breathing gas delivered by a pressure support system to a patient to remain substantially constant despite variations of the output flow rate. The impeller includes a plurality of impeller blades disposed on a face of the impeller body with an inlet area between each pair of adjacent blades being substantially equal a corresponding outlet area for each pair of adjacent blades.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. A radial impeller comprising:
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a hub attachable to a rotating shaft;
an impeller body attached to the hub and extending radially from the hub to a perimeter of the impeller and having opposed radial faces; and
a plurality of impeller blades disposed on one face of the impeller body, each impeller blade extending from a leading end of the blade generally adjacent the hub toward a trailing end of the blade generally at the perimeter of the impeller, wherein an inlet area is defined between each pair of adjacent blades generally adjacent the hub, with each inlet area being defined as the area at the radius of the leading end of the adjacent blades bounded by a height of the leading end of the adjacent blades and the one face of the impeller body, and wherein an outlet area is defined between each pair of adjacent blades generally adjacent the perimeter of the impeller, with each outlet area being defined as the area at the radius of the trailing end of the adjacent blades bounded by the height of the trailing end of the adjacent blades and the one face of the impeller body, wherein each inlet area is substantially equal to each corresponding outlet area for each pair of adjacent blades. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A pressure generator comprising:
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(a) a housing having a gas inlet and a gas outlet;
(b) a motor;
(c) a rotatable drive shaft driven by the motor; and
(d) an impeller mounted on the drive shaft and disposed within the housing, the impeller comprising;
(1) a hub attached to the drive shaft, (2) an impeller body attached to the hub extending radially from the hub to a perimeter of the impeller, and (3) a plurality of impeller blades disposed on one face of the impeller body, each impeller blade extending from a leading end of the blade generally adjacent the hub toward a trailing end of the blade generally at the perimeter of the impeller, wherein an inlet area is defined between each pair of adjacent blades generally adjacent the hub, with each inlet area being defined as the area at the radius of the leading end of the adjacent blades bounded by a height of the leading end of the adjacent blades and the one face of the impeller body, and wherein an outlet area is defined between each pair of adjacent blades generally adjacent the perimeter of the impeller, with each outlet area being defined as the area at the radius of the trailing end of the adjacent blades bounded by the height of the trailing end of the adjacent blades and the one face of the impeller body, wherein each inlet area is substantially equal to each corresponding outlet area for each pair of adjacent blades. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A pressure support system adapted to deliver a flow of breathing gas to an airway of a patient, the pressure generating system comprising:
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(a) a source of breathing gas;
(b) a pressure generator adapted to generate a flow of breathing gas, the pressure generator comprising;
(1) a housing having a gas inlet and a gas outlet, (2) a motor, (3) a rotatable drive shaft driven by the motor, and (4) an impeller mounted on the drive shaft and disposed within the housing, the impeller comprising;
(i) a hub attached to the drive shaft, (ii) an impeller body attached to the hub extending radially from the hub to a perimeter of the impeller, and (iii) a plurality of impeller blades disposed on one face of the impeller body, each impeller blade extending from a leading end of the blade generally adjacent the hub toward a trailing end of the blade generally at the perimeter of the impeller, wherein an inlet area is defined between each pair of adjacent blades generally adjacent the hub, with each inlet area being defined as the area at the radius of the leading end of the adjacent blades bounded by a height of the leading end of the adjacent blades and the one face of the impeller body, and wherein an outlet area is defined between each pair of adjacent blades generally adjacent the perimeter of the impeller, with each outlet area being defined as the area at the radius of the trailing end of the adjacent blades bounded by the height of the trailing end of the adjacent blades and the one face of the impeller body, wherein each inlet area is substantially equal to each corresponding outlet area for each pair of adjacent blades; and
(c) a patient circuit operatively coupled to the gas outlet of the housing for delivering the flow of breathing gas from the gas outlet to an airway of a patient. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method of supplying a flow of gas comprising:
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(a) providing a source of gas;
(b) pressurizing the gas to a selected constant pressure in a pressure generating system comprising;
(1) a housing having a gas inlet and a gas outlet, (2) a motor, (3) a rotatable drive shaft driven by the motor, and (4) an impeller mounted on the drive shaft and disposed within the housing, the impeller comprising;
(i) a hub attached to the drive shaft, (i) an impeller body attached to the hub extending radially from the hub to a perimeter of the impeller, and (iii) a plurality of impeller blades disposed on one face of the impeller body, each impeller blade extending from a leading end of the blade generally adjacent the hub toward a trailing end of the blade generally at the perimeter of the impeller, wherein an inlet area is defined between each pair of adjacent blades generally adjacent the hub, with each inlet area being defined as the area at the radius of the leading end of the adjacent blades bounded by a height of the leading end of the adjacent blades and the one face of the impeller body, and wherein an outlet area is defined between each pair of adjacent blades generally adjacent the perimeter of the impeller, with each outlet area being defined as the area at the radius of the trailing end of the adjacent blades bounded by the height of the trailing end of the adjacent blades and the one face of the impeller body, wherein each inlet area is substantially equal to each corresponding outlet area for each pair of adjacent blades; and
c) delivering the pressurized gas to an external location using a gas carrying conduit coupled to the gas outlet of the housing.
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25. A pressure support system adapted to generate a flow of breathing gas for delivery to an airway of a patient, the pressure generating system comprising:
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(a) a source of breathing gas;
(b) a pressure generator comprising;
(1) a motor, (2) a rotatable drive shaft driven by the motor, and (3) an impeller mounted on the drive shaft, wherein the impeller is configured and arranged such that the pressure generator delivers a substantially constant pressure over a range of flows output from the pressure generator from 10-150 l/min, wherein the substantially constant pressure is a pressure selected from a range of pressures from 10-65 cmH2O; and
(c) a patient circuit operatively coupled to the pressure generator and adapted to deliver the flow of breathing gas from the pressure generator to an airway of a patient. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method of supplying gas comprising:
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(a) providing a source of breathing gas;
(b) providing a pressure generator comprising;
(1) a motor, (2) a rotatable drive shaft driven by the motor, and (3) an impeller mounted on the drive shaft;
(c) pressurizing gas from the source of breathing gas via the pressure generator such that the pressure generator outputs a substantially constant pressure over a range of flows from 10-150 l/min, wherein the pressure generator delivers the substantially constant pressure, which is a pressure selected from a range of pressures between 10-65 cmH2O; and
(d) supplying the pressurized gas from the pressure generator to the patient through a patient circuit. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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Specification