Surgery – Respiratory method or device – Means for supplying respiratory gas under positive pressure
Patent
1980-11-21
1982-12-07
Recla, Henry J.
Surgery
Respiratory method or device
Means for supplying respiratory gas under positive pressure
12820127, 12820128, 12820526, 137 812, 1374875, B63C 1120
Patent
active
043621546
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention concerns regulating the oxygen partial pressure of the gas mixture in the respiratory circuit of a diver, the diver being provided with a closed-circuit respiratory apparatus connected to a remotely disposed monitor chamber in which there is a pressure which is equal to or close to atmospheric pressure.
It is applied in particular to the case of divers connected to a submarine of the `diver-exiting` type, operating at a depth which can be down to 300 meters.
For divers to operate from a submarine, at great depth, it is necessary to use respiratory systems which have a low level of consumption as the amount of gas which can be stored on board submersible vessels is limited.
The respiratory systems of this type are `closed circuit` systems in which the oxygen partial pressure is measured for controlling the intake of oxygen. The devices which are known at the present day are of compact nature. Accordingly, the conditions in regard to pressure and humidity require the electronic measuring device to be of such a degree of complexity and to have components of such a quality that such systems are burdensome and require particular competence and supervision on the part of the diver. Now, it is certain that the first function of the diver is to work effectively. It is penalising him to require him to have a preoccupation with his respiratory system when he is in a situation in regard to pressure which affects his reflexes and his initiative and capacity for decision.
The present invention seeks to liberate the diver from all respiratory preoccupations by arranging for that supervision task to be performed by the personnel adjacent the diver in the atmospheric observation chamber of the submarine.
According to the invention, this is achieved by means of a process wherein:
(a) a sample of the gaseous mixture in the respiratory circuit of the diver is continuously taken off,
(b) said sample is passed into the monitoring chamber, the oxygen partial pressure of the sample is measured therein, and an electrical control signal is produced therein, if the measured pressure falls below a reference value, and
(c) the control signal is used for triggering an injection of a defined amount of an oxygen-rich gas mixture to the respiratory circuit of the diver.
By transferring the entire measuring and regulating arrangement into the atmospheric chamber, not only does the electronic apparatus operate under standard conditions in respect of pressure and humidity, but the breathing apparatus carried by the diver is reduced to a simple and compact device.
In a typical example, the sample of the gas mixture is taken off at a flow rate which is in the range of from 0.2 to 0.6 normal liter per minute.
In a preferred embodiment, the sample from the respiratory circuit is passed to the monitor chamber by a capillary conduit in such a way that the variation in the oxygen partial pressure at the outlet of the capillary reproduces the variation at that pressure at the inlet of the capillary, and therefore in the respiratory circuit, with a delay, the section of the capillary being so selected as to limit the duration of the transfer of the sample along the capillary.
In a preferred embodiment, the interval between two injections is used to prepare said defined amount.
In a preferred embodiment, said defined amount is prepared by filling a container with the oxygen-rich mixture at a given differential pressure.
In a preferred embodiment, said injection is produced by discharging, into a simple conduit leading to the respiratory circuit, a container which had been previously filled with oxygen-rich mixture, at a given differential pressure.
The invention is not limited to this use.
Thus, the breathing apparatus used by the diver to provide him with the gas mixture which he is to breathe, instead of being carried by the diver, may be a chamber or tank in which the diver is located and in which there is an atmosphere which is breathed by the diver.
In one use, the breathing apparatus is a chamber in which the diver is disposed and
REFERENCES:
patent: 3217730 (1965-11-01), Banning, Jr.
patent: 3515133 (1970-06-01), Parker
patent: 3524444 (1970-08-01), Ellard
patent: 3593735 (1968-09-01), Reiher
patent: 3688770 (1972-09-01), O'Neill
patent: 4026283 (1975-11-01), Banjavich
patent: 4195628 (1980-04-01), Lubitzsch et al.
Mechanical Engineering, No. 12, vol. 97, Dec. 1975, P. S. Riegel, "Portable One-Man Recompression Chamber", pp. 26 to 31.
Laboratories de Mecaniques Appliquees "Lama"
Recla Henry J.
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