High pressure chamber device

Abstract

To provide a hyperbaric chamber device that has a simple constitution and that achieves weight saving and a high degree of freedom of shape while securing airtightness.SOLUTION: A hyperbaric chamber device includes: a bag-shaped inner shell 22 that is made of a flexible material; an outer shell 20 that is a casing constituted by assembling a plurality of members 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35 and that internally accommodates the inner shell 22; and an air supply part 16 that supplies air into a hyperbaric chamber S formed of the inner shell 22 and the outer shell 20. A user can increase internal pressure in the state of making an entry into the hyperbaric chamber S.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a hyperbaric chamber device capable of increasing the internal air pressure. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, devices have been considered that can improve the health of people in a closed space by controlling the air pressure and air quality in the space. The following Patent Document 1 describes a capsule-type device in which a chamber capable of accommodating the body of a user in a prone position can be divided into multiple parts made of a non-flexible, non-breathable material. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2009-297046 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In a high-pressure chamber device, high airtightness is required to form a non-ventilated high-pressure space. Therefore, in the device of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, since the chamber is divided into multiple members, in order to obtain high airtightness, the chamber is composed of multiple panels and a frame that closes the spaces between the panels, and is made of all metal materials. In other words, the high-pressure chamber device has problems such as the weight of the shell that forms the high-pressure chamber being large, and the need for high precision in processing to increase airtightness, resulting in low freedom in the shape of the shell.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a high-pressure chamber device that has a simple configuration, ensures airtightness, is lightweight, and has a degree of freedom in shape. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the high pressure chamber device of the present invention comprises: A bag-shaped inner shell made of a flexible material; A housing formed by assembling a plurality of members, the housing comprising an outer shell that houses the inner shell therein; an air supply unit that supplies air into a high-pressure chamber formed by the inner shell and the outer shell; The high pressure chamber is configured to be capable of increasing the internal air pressure when a user enters the high pressure chamber.

[0007] The high pressure chamber device of this configuration may be configured to ensure airtightness only with the inner shell, or may be configured to ensure airtightness with both the inner shell and the outer shell. In other words, when the high pressure chamber device of this configuration is configured to ensure airtightness only with the inner shell, there is no need to ensure airtightness in the outer shell. Also, even when airtightness is ensured by both the inner shell and the outer shell, there is no need to ensure airtightness in the outer shell located outside the inner shell as long as airtightness between the inner shell and the outer shell is ensured. The outer shell can be considered to suppress the expansion of the inner shell and maintain its external shape. In other words, since the outer shell only needs to have a strength sufficient to suppress the expansion of the inner shell, it can be formed of synthetic resin or, even if made of metal, can be made into a mesh shape, and the outer shell can be made lighter. Therefore, the high pressure chamber device of this configuration can ensure airtightness and achieve weight reduction with a simple configuration. Also, the high pressure chamber device of this configuration does not need to ensure airtightness in the outer shell, so the freedom of design of the outer shell is increased, and the designability can be improved.

[0008] In this configuration, the material forming the "inner shell" is preferably flexible and stretchable. For example, soft synthetic resins such as polyvinyl chloride, nylon, and polyethylene can be used. If such a material is used, the air pressure in the high pressure chamber can be increased to cause the inner shell to stick to the inner surface of the outer shell, thereby ensuring the maximum space formed by the outer shell as the space in the high pressure chamber.

[0009] In the above configuration, the inner shell may be configured to have the same shape as the outer shell and the same inside dimensions as the outer shell.

[0010] In the high pressure chamber device of this configuration, when the air pressure inside the inner shell is increased, the inner shell sticks to the inner surface of the outer shell with almost no gaps, and the inner pressure is applied evenly to the outer shell, so that the required rigidity of the outer shell can be reduced and the weight can be further reduced. As mentioned above, if the material forming the inner shell is a stretchable material, the inner shell can be stuck to the outer shell with less gaps.

[0011] In the above configuration, the outer shell includes an outer shell body having an outer side opening through which a user can enter and exit, and Opening and closing and a door that can be opened and closed, the inner shell having an inner-side opening of the same dimensions and shape as the outer-side opening, and an opening edge of the inner-side opening being bonded to an opening edge of the outer-side opening.

[0012] Although the high pressure chamber device of this configuration requires airtightness between the main body and the door in the outer shell, this structure is widely adopted in a wide variety of applications and can easily ensure airtightness. In other words, the high pressure chamber device of this configuration is configured to allow the user to relatively easily enter and exit the high pressure chamber.

[0013] In the above configuration, the outer shell may be configured such that the outer-side opening is formed on a side surface of the outer shell body.

[0014] The high pressure chamber device of this configuration has a door on the side, making it easier for users to enter and exit.

[0015] In the above configuration, the inner shell may be adhered to an upper portion of the outer shell.

[0016] In the high pressure chamber device of this configuration, the inner shell is fixed to the ceiling of the outer shell, so that when a user enters or exits from the side, space is secured within the inner shell, making it easier for the user to enter or exit. Effect of the Invention

[0017] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a high pressure chamber device that has a simple configuration, ensures airtightness, is lightweight, and allows freedom in shape. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an air conditioning apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a side view of the shell shown in FIG. 1 with the door removed. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan sectional view of a portion of the shell shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a shell constituting an air conditioning apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a shell constituting an air conditioning device according to a modified example. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Hereinafter, as a mode for carrying out the present invention, several embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments, and can be carried out in various forms with various modifications and improvements based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art. EXAMPLES

[0020] The hyperbaric chamber device of the first embodiment of the present invention is an air conditioner 10 that can adjust the air pressure and air quality inside the device while the user is inside, thereby improving the user's health condition and promoting his or her health. As shown in Fig. 1, the air conditioner 10 includes a shell 14 capable of accommodating a user inside, and an air control device (air supply unit) 16 that increases the air pressure inside the shell 14 (hyperbaric chamber S) and controls the quality of the air inside, specifically the oxygen concentration and carbon dioxide concentration.

[0021] As shown in FIG. 2, the shell 14 is composed of an outer shell 20 and an inner shell 22. The outer shell 20 is a rectangular parallelepiped housing that is long in the vertical direction and forms the outer contour of the shell 14. The outer shell 20 is composed of six panel members, namely a ceiling member 30, a bottom member 31, and four side wall members 32, 33, 34, and 35, and a door 36 that is attached to one of the side wall members so as to be able to open and close. In the following description, the direction perpendicular to the side wall member 32 to which the door 38 is attached is referred to as the front-rear direction, the side wall member 32 is referred to as the front panel 32, and the side wall member 34 facing the front panel 32 is referred to as the back panel 34. In addition, the direction perpendicular to the remaining two side wall members 33 and 35 is referred to as the left-right direction, and the side wall member 33 on the right side when facing the front panel 32 is referred to as the right panel 33, and the side wall member 35 on the left side is referred to as the left panel 35. In this embodiment, the six panel materials 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, and 35 can be considered to constitute an outer shell main body.

[0022] The door 36 is rotatably attached to the front panel 32 by a hinge 38, so that the opening 32A formed in the front panel 32 can be opened and closed. The door 36 is provided with a sealant 40 attached along the outer edge of the inner surface thereof, and a locking mechanism (not shown) for a user who enters the high pressure chamber S to lock the door 36 from the inside. When the door 36 is locked by the locking mechanism, the sealant 40 comes into contact with the edge of the opening 32A on the outer surface of the front panel 32, so that the gap between the front panel 32 and the door 36 is closed without any gaps. The six panel materials are made of synthetic resin such as FRP or PP, and are simply joined together by adhesives, screws, etc., and there is no airtightness between the panels.

[0023] On the other hand, the inner shell 22 is a bag-shaped member made of a flexible material. Specifically, the inner shell 22 is made of a synthetic resin, such as polyvinyl chloride, nylon, or polyethylene, which is softer than the material forming the panel material constituting the outer shell 20, and is stretchable. The inner shell 22 is also made of a rectangular parallelepiped shape like the outer shell 20, and has the same inner dimensions as the outer shell 20. The inner shell 22 is accommodated inside the outer shell 20.

[0024] A part of the outer surface of the inner shell 22 is bonded to the inner surface of the outer shell 20. More specifically, as shown in Fig. 2, the inner shell 22 has an opening (outer side opening) 22A of the same size as the opening (inner side opening) 32A of the front panel 32 at a position corresponding to the opening 32A, and the opening edge of the opening 22A is bonded to the opening edge of the opening 32A of the front panel 32 without any gap. The hatched area 50 in Fig. 2 is the bonded part 50, which prevents air from leaking out between the inner shell 22 and the outer shell 20 as shown in Fig. 3. The ceiling part of the inner shell 22 is bonded to the ceiling member 30 of the outer shell 20 (hatched area 52 in Fig. 2).

[0025] Next, the air control device 16 will be briefly described. The air control device 16 is mainly composed of a device main body 60 in which an air pressure control device, an oxygen concentrator, and a carbon dioxide removal device are integrated, and includes the device main body 60 and a connection tube (not shown) that connects the device main body 60 and the inner shell 22. The device main body 60 can control the air pressure in the high pressure chamber S, as well as the oxygen concentration and carbon dioxide concentration in the high pressure chamber S. For example, the device main body 60 controls the air pressure in the high pressure chamber S to be higher than the external air pressure, and controls the oxygen concentration in the high pressure chamber S to be higher than the external oxygen concentration, so that the air conditioning device 10 can activate the parasympathetic nerves of the user 12 in the high pressure chamber S to bring him or her into a relaxed state, thereby improving the health of the user 12 and promoting his or her health. When the user 12 breathes in the high pressure chamber S, the carbon dioxide concentration in the high pressure chamber S increases, so the device main body 60 controls the carbon dioxide concentration in the high pressure chamber S to decrease.

[0026] Specifically, the air control device 16 takes in the air in the high pressure chamber S into the carbon dioxide removal device. The carbon dioxide removal device separates carbon dioxide from the taken in air, discharges the separated carbon dioxide to the outside, and sends the air from which the carbon dioxide has been removed to the air pressure control device. The oxygen concentrator then sends out air to which oxygen has been added (air with a high oxygen concentration) to the air pressure control device, and the air pressure control device sends out the air to which oxygen has been added and from which the carbon dioxide has been removed to the high pressure chamber S. In this way, the air control device 16 reduces the carbon dioxide concentration in the high pressure chamber S, and increases the air pressure and oxygen concentration in the high pressure chamber S. Incidentally, the carbon dioxide removal device may be of a type that adsorbs carbon dioxide.

[0027] The device main body 60 is equipped with a switch for adjusting the air pressure in the high pressure chamber S, a switch for adjusting the oxygen concentration in the high pressure chamber S, a switch for adjusting the pressurization time until the adjusted air pressure is reached, a switch for adjusting the pressure recovery time before the adjusted air pressure is restored to the air pressure at the start of pressurization, and a switch for adjusting the exposure time during which the adjusted air pressure is maintained. The air control device 16 is also equipped with a remote controller for remotely operating the device main body 60 wirelessly or by wire. Even when the user 12 is accommodated in the high pressure chamber S, the device main body 60 can be remotely operated by using the remote controller.

[0028] As described above, the air conditioner 10, which is a high-pressure chamber device of this embodiment, includes the shell 14 that forms the high-pressure chamber S capable of accommodating the body of a user, and the air control device 16 as an air supply unit that supplies air to the high-pressure chamber S. The shell 14 is composed of a bag-shaped inner shell 22 made of a flexible material, and an outer shell 20 that is a housing formed by assembling a plurality of members and accommodates the inner shell therein, and the high-pressure chamber S is formed by the inner shell 22 and the outer shell 20. In more detail, the high-pressure chamber S is formed by the inner shell 22, and the front panel 32 and door 36 that close the opening 22A of the inner shell 22. The inner shell 22 and the front panel 32 are secured in airtightness by the adhesive portion 50, and the front panel 32 and the door 36 are secured in airtightness by the seal material 40, thereby securing the airtightness of the high-pressure chamber S. That is, the air conditioner 10 of this embodiment does not need to ensure airtightness between the panels constituting the outer shell 20, and the panels are molded from synthetic resin instead of metal to reduce weight. Therefore, the air conditioner 10 of this embodiment is lightweight while ensuring airtightness with a simple configuration. The outer shell 20 only needs to have strength sufficient to suppress the expansion of the inner shell 22. Also, the air conditioner 10 of this embodiment has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, but a high-pressure chamber is formed by a flexible inner shell and an outer shell that houses the inner shell, and the outer shell does not need to be airtight, so the freedom of design of the outer shell is increased and it is possible to design with consideration for design.

[0029] In addition, in the air conditioning device 10 of this embodiment, the inner shell 22 has the same rectangular parallelepiped shape as the outer shell 20, and has the same internal dimensions as the outer shell 20. With this configuration, when the air pressure inside the inner shell 22 is increased, the inner shell 22 sticks to the inner surface of the outer shell 20 with almost no gaps, and the inner pressure can be applied evenly to the outer shell 20, so that the required rigidity of the outer shell 20 can be reduced and the weight can be reduced. As mentioned above, since the material forming the inner shell 22 is a material having elasticity, the inner shell 22 sticks to the outer shell 20 with less gaps in the air conditioning device 10 of this embodiment.

[0030] Furthermore, the air conditioning device 10 of this embodiment is configured so that the openings 32A, 22A, which are entrances and exits to the high pressure chamber S, open to the side, and the openings 32A, 22A can be opened and closed with doors. This allows the air conditioning device 10 of this embodiment to be configured so that users can easily enter and exit.

[0031] 2, in the air conditioning device 10 of this embodiment, the inner shell 22 is adhered to the portion located on the upper side of the outer shell 20, i.e., the ceiling member 30, at the adhesive portion 52. As a result, when a user enters the high-pressure chamber S, the inner shell 22 is in an expanded state, making it easier for the user to enter the high-pressure chamber S. Incidentally, the air conditioning device 10 of this embodiment is sized to be large enough to accommodate a chair or the like placed in the high-pressure chamber S and to accommodate a user seated in the chair. EXAMPLES

[0032] In the air conditioner 10 of the first embodiment described above, the shell 14 is configured so that the high pressure chamber S is formed by the outer shell 20 and the inner shell 22. In contrast, the shell 100 of the air conditioner of the second embodiment shown in Fig. 4 is configured so that the high pressure chamber is formed only by the inner shell 102. The air conditioner of the second embodiment is also mainly composed of the shell 100 and the air control device 16, but since the air control device 16 is similar, illustration and description will be omitted.

[0033] In the second embodiment, the shell 100 is also made up of an inner shell 102 and an outer shell 104. The inner shell 102 and the outer shell 104 are rectangular parallelepiped shaped, as in the first embodiment. However, the inner shell 102 is provided with a line fastener 106 on the front surface 102A, in the center in the left-right direction, and extending in the up-down direction. The line fastener 106 is structured to prevent air leakage even in the portion where the elements (teeth) are engaged, and when the line fastener 106 is closed, a high-pressure chamber with airtightness is formed inside the inner shell 102.

[0034] On the other hand, the outer shell 104 is made up of six mesh-shaped wall materials 110, 112, 114 and a connecting member 116 for connecting them at the corners. The wall material 110 is for forming the ceiling or bottom surface, and the wall materials 112, 114 are for forming the side walls. The wall material 114 has an opening 114A in the center and is positioned on the front side, in other words, it is aligned with the surface of the inner shell 102 on which the line fastener 106 is provided. In other words, by opening the line fastener 106, the opening of the inner shell 102 formed by the line fastener 106 and the opening 114A of the outer shell 104 are connected, allowing the user to enter and exit the high-pressure chamber.

[0035] The air conditioning apparatus of the second embodiment can maintain its rectangular parallelepiped shape by suppressing the expansion of the inner shell 102 with the outer shell 104, and therefore can be installed more stably than an air conditioning apparatus using only the inner shell 102. Although the wall materials 110, 112, and 114 are made of metal, they are formed in a mesh shape, which reduces their weight. Furthermore, the outer shell 104 can be easily assembled and disassembled, and can be stored in a compact state, allowing it to be installed only when necessary.

[0036] <Other embodiments> The shells 14, 100 of the air conditioners in the above two embodiments are rectangular parallelepiped shaped, but are not limited to this and can be any shape. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a capsule-shaped shell 120 may be used. This shell 120 is made up of an inner shell 122 and an outer shell 124. The outer shell 124 is made up of a main body 124A and a door 124B, which are molded from synthetic resin such as FRP or PP, and are not airtight between them. On the other hand, the inner shell 122 has a line fastener 122A and is capable of forming a high-pressure chamber by itself. This shell 120 can accommodate a user in a lying position. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 10... air conditioning device (high pressure chamber device), 14... shell, 16... air control device (air supply device), 20... outer shell, 22... inner shell, 22A... opening (inner side opening), 30... ceiling member, 31... bottom member, 32... side wall member (front panel), 32A... opening (outer side opening), 33... side wall member (right panel), 34... side wall member (rear panel), 35... side wall member (left panel), 36... door, 100... shell, 102... inner shell, 104... outer shell, 120... shell, 122... inner shell, 124... outer shell

Claims

1. A bag-shaped inner shell made of a flexible material; A housing formed by assembling a plurality of members, the housing comprising an outer shell that houses the inner shell therein; an air supply unit that supplies air into a high-pressure chamber formed by the inner shell and the outer shell; The pressure inside the high pressure chamber can be increased when a user enters the high pressure chamber. The outer shell includes an outer shell body having an outer-side opening through which a user can enter and exit, and a door capable of opening and closing the outer-side opening, the inner shell has an inner-side opening having the same dimensions and shape as the outer-side opening, The high pressure chamber device, wherein an opening edge of the inner side opening is bonded to an opening edge of the outer side opening.

2. The high pressure chamber device according to claim 1 , wherein the outer side opening of the outer shell is formed on a side surface of the outer shell body.

3. 3. The high pressure chamber device according to claim 2, wherein the inner shell is adhered to an upper portion of the outer shell.

4. 4. The high pressure chamber device according to claim 1, wherein the inner shell has the same shape as the outer shell and the same inside dimensions as the outer shell.

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