Reversible pivoting vane rotary compressor for a valve-free oxygen concentrator

An oxygen concentrator employing a reversible pivoting vane rotary compressor, said concentrator comprising:

• a nitrogen filter;
• a reversible pivoting vane rotary compressor that includes a housing having a generally cylindrical chamber defined by an inner wall, a rotor mounted eccentrically within said chamber to define about said rotor a generally crescent shaped compressor chamber, which narrows from a main chamber region to a constricted chamber region, said rotor having a circumferential surface, a pair of reversible intake and exhaust ports connected communicably with said constricted chamber region, each port for selectively and alternately introducing air into said constricted region while the other port exhausts air from said constricted region, and at least one adjoining pair of curved vanes pivotably attached to said rotor and extending in generally opposite arcuate directions from said circumferential surface of said rotor into said chamber;
• a reversible motor, for rotatably driving said rotor alternately in opposing first and second directions such that both of said adjoining pair of vanes are urged simultaneously against said inner walls of the chamber to define at least one compartment that transmits the air through said chamber between said pair of intake and exhaust ports and through said main chamber region, such that when said rotor is driven in a first forward direction, air is pumped into and through said nitrogen filter to extract nitrogen from the air pump therethrough and produce concentrated oxygen, and when said rotor is driven in the opposite direction, said extracted oxygen is exhausted from said filter by said compressor;
• a cabinet for enclosing said compressor and said motor, said cabinet having an opening for introducing air into and removing air from said cabinet, and further comprising a filter engaged with said opening;
• and
• a fan operably connected to said motor for cooling said motor and pulling air into said cabinet through said filter when said motor operates in a first direction, and for blowing exhaust air from said compressor through said filter to dislodge dirt and dust therefrom when said motor operates in the reverse direction.

An oxygen concentrator comprising:

• first and second nitrogen filters;
• a first reversible pivoting vane rotary compressor that is communicably connected to said first filter and a second reversible pivoting vane rotary compressor that is communicably connected to said second filter, each compressor including a housing having a generally cylindrical chamber defined by an inner wall, a rotor mounted eccentrically within said chamber to define about said rotor generally crescent shaped compression chamber, which narrows from a main chamber region to a constricted chamber region, said rotor having a circumferential surface, a pair of reversible intake and exhaust ports connected communicably with said constricted chamber region, each port for selectively and alternately introducing air into said constricted chamber region while the other port exhausts air from said constricted region, and at least one adjoining pair of curved vanes pivotably attached to said rotor and extending in generally opposite arcuate directions from said rotor into said chamber;
• and
• at least one motor for rotatably driving said rotors of said first and second compressors alternately in opposing first and second directions such that in each said compressor, both of said adjoining vanes are urged simultaneously against the inner wall of the chamber to define at least one compartment that transmits the air through said chamber between said pair of intake and exhaust ports and through said main chamber region such that air introduced through one of said ports is compressed and discharged through the other port;
• whereby said motor means drives said first compressor in a forward direction to pump air into and through said first filter while simultaneously driving said second compressor in a reverse direction to evacuate said second filter, and alternately drives said first compressor in a reverse direction to evacuate said first filter while simultaneously driving said second compressor in a forward direction to pump air into and through said second filter, said circumferential surface of said rotor and each said vane having conforming curvatures and said rotor positioned within said chamber such that each said vane is driven into flush interengagement with said circumferential surface when said vane is driven by said rotor into said constricted chamber region.