title: Ambient pressure air/oxygen blender.
abstract: This article presents a unique air/oxygen mixing device specifically designed for respiratory therapy applications where compressed air is not available. The need for such a device has increased drastically over recent years because of the increasing number of ventilator-dependent patients being cared for in private homes, which often lack facilities such as pressurized air. This pneumatically driven blender utilizes a specialized poppet-seat configuration that proportionally adjusts the gas flow area, in response to the ventilator demand, without altering the set air and oxygen percentage mixtures. A prototype of the device was designed and constructed. Tests producing favourable blending accuracy and pressure drop results are presented.
authors.affiliation: Bird Products Corporation, Riverside, California 92501.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Guillaume
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: DeVries
mesh_terms: D000388:Air; D000399:Air Pressure; D004867:Equipment Design; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards