Wobble plate compressor and oxygen concentrator using the same
AssigneeCaire Inc.
InventorsDavid Phillip Winter, Raziel Alon, Gary Wayne Kozlow
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An oxygen concentrator includes a wobble plate compressor having one or more double-headed pistons and cylinders. A wobble plate of the compressor does not spin as an axle rotates, but orbitally tilts relative to the axle, thereby causing the double-headed pistons to move within the respective cylinders.
Claims22
A wobble plate compressor comprising:
- a motor that rotates an axle around an axis of rotation;
- a wobble plate having at least one distal attachment member, the wobble plate coupled to the axle so that the distal attachment member reciprocates upon rotation of the axle;
- and
- a double-headed piston assembly;
- and
- at least one single-piece cylinder receiving the double-headed piston assembly to define two compression chambers, the cylinder including a window through which the wobble plate engages with the piston assembly such that the distal attachment member penetrates the piston assembly whereby the piston assembly reciprocates within the cylinder along a second axis parallel to the axis of rotation upon rotation of the axle and the distal attachment member reciprocates generally in an axial path along the second axis.
An oxygen concentrator comprising:
- a concentrator;
- and
- a wobble plate compressor including:
- a motor that rotates an axle around an axis of rotation;
- a wobble plate having at least two balls, each ball on a different distal portion of the wobble plate, the wobble plate coupled to the axle so that each ball reciprocates upon rotation of the axle;
- a double-headed piston;
- and
- at least one single-piece cylinder receiving the double-headed piston assembly to define two compression chambers, the cylinder including a window through which the wobble plate engages with the piston assembly such that the piston is attached to an associated one of the balls whereby the piston reciprocates within the cylinder upon the rotation of the axle and the ball reciprocates generally in an axial path along an axis of the cylinder.
A method of assembling a wobble plate with a piston assembly, the wobble plate including at least one distal attachment member, and the piston assembly including a piston head and at least one connecting rod, the method comprising:
- mounting a first magnetic element to the at least one connecting rod;
- arranging an assembly tool adjacent the piston head at a predetermined location, the assembly tool including a second magnetic element configured to magnetically attract the first magnetic element of the at least one connecting rod to bias the at least one connecting rod to a predetermined position when the assembly tool is arranged adjacent the piston head at the predetermined location;
- engaging the at least one distal attachment member with the at least one connecting rod;
- and
- removing the assembly tool from the piston head.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.