Humidifier for respiratory apparatus
AssigneeResMed Pty Ltd
InventorsPaul Jan Klasek, Alexander Virr, Nathan John Row, Ronald James Huby, Jack Wei Cheng
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A heatable conduit for use in a respiratory apparatus for delivering breathable gas to a patient includes a first segment with one or more heater wires and a second segment with one or more heater wires. Each of the first and second segments comprises a spirally wound elongate body. In addition, the one or more heater wires of the first and second segments are configured to be connected in use to at least one controller such that, in a first mode, power is provided to the one or more heater wires of the first segment and no power is provided to the one or more heater wires of the second segment.
Claims28
A heatable conduit for use in a respiratory apparatus for delivering breathable gas to a patient, the heatable conduit comprising:
- a first segment comprising a first gas flow path and one or more heater wires;
- a second segment comprising a second gas flow path and one or more heater wires;
- and
- an intermediate section configured to secure the first segment and the second segment so that when the first and second segments are secured together by the intermediate section, the first and second gas flow paths form a combined airflow path that passes through the intermediate section, the intermediate section being further configured to electrically couple the first and second segments so that electrical power to and sensing signals from the second segment are conveyed through the intermediate section in use when the first and second segments are coupled together by the intermediate section,
- wherein each of the first and second segments comprises a spirally wound elongate body,
- wherein the one or more heater wires of the first and second segments are configured to be connected in use to at least one controller such that, in a first mode, power is provided to the first segment and no power is provided through the intermediate section to the second segment, and
- wherein the heatable conduit is configured so that a heat output of the one or more heater wires of the first segment is independently controllable relative to a heat output of the one or more heater wires of the second segment.
A heatable conduit for use in a respiratory apparatus for delivering breathable gas to a patient, the heatable conduit comprising:
- a tube with a gas flow path configured to convey the breathable gas;
- and
- a flexible heater supported on the tube and configured to heat the breathable gas flowing through the heatable conduit,
- wherein the flexible heater comprises multiple segments connected to each other by way of one or more connectors configured to electrically couple the segments to each other so that electrical power and sensing signals are conveyed through the connectors,
- wherein each of the one or more connectors is configured so that the breathable gas flowing through the gas flow path of the tube also flows through the connector,
- wherein each segment forms a heating zone to provide different temperature zones along the length of the tube, and
- wherein each heating zone is independently controllable.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.