Power supply for respiratory therapy device

Abstract

A respiratory therapy device generates a flow of breathable gas for therapy. The apparatus may include a flow generator in a housing to generate the breathable gas flow. The flow generator may have an operating voltage for such operations. The device may include a battery pack that is engageable with the housing. The battery pack may be configured to power the flow generator and may include a stand-by circuit configured to switch between stand-by and operating modes. The stand-by circuit may be configured to provide a stand-by operations voltage while in the stand-by mode that is less than an operating voltage of the flow generator and may be configured to detect current demand of the flow generator with the stand-by operations voltage while in stand-by mode such as for enabling an increase voltage from the battery pack to produce the operating voltage in the operating mode for the flow generator.

1 . A battery pack for a respiratory therapy device that generates a flow of breathable gas to a patient, the battery pack comprising;
 a battery housing for engagement with a flow generator housing;   a cell within the battery housing for producing a voltage;   a converter to convert the voltage from the cell to an operating voltage for the respiratory therapy device;   an output connector of the battery pack configured to provide the operating voltage to an input connector of the flow generator; and   a stand-by circuit coupled to the battery pack,   wherein the battery pack is configured to operate in a plurality of power states.   
     
     
         2 . The battery pack of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of power states is based on whether a power supply unit is attached. 
     
     
         3 . The battery pack of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of power states is based on whether the power supply unit is active. 
     
     
         4 . The battery pack of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of power states is based on whether the flow generator is in operation. 
     
     
         5 . The battery pack of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of power states is based on whether the flow generator is attached to the battery pack. 
     
     
         6 . The battery pack of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of power states is based on whether a user supplies an input requesting power from the battery pack. 
     
     
         7 . The battery pack of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of power states is based on whether the battery pack has been powered off. 
     
     
         8 . The battery pack of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of power states comprises a plurality of a sleep state, an idle state, a supply state, a charge state, and a UPS state. 
     
     
         9 . The battery pack of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of power states comprises the sleep state, the idle state, the supply state, the charge state, and the UPS state. 
     
     
         10 . The battery pack of  claim 8 , wherein a stand-by mode of the battery pack comprises the sleep state, the charge state, and the idle state. 
     
     
         11 . The battery pack of  claim 8 , wherein an operating mode of the battery pack comprises the supply state and the UPS state. 
     
     
         12 . The battery pack of  claim 11 , wherein the stand-by circuit is configured to switch the battery pack from the stand-by mode to the operating mode upon detection of a current drawn from the battery pack. 
     
     
         13 . The battery pack of  claim 8 , wherein the idle state and the sleep state employ latching circuits to enable/disable internal power supplies, which are controlled by various inputs, including a microcontroller, pilot circuit, user interface button, and/or input power detection. 
     
     
         14 . The battery pack of  claim 13 , wherein, in the idle state, internal rails of the battery pack are turned on without turning on the converter, and a microcontroller of the battery pack is running so that it can display status on a user interface and it can communicate externally on a controller area network bus, and internally on a system management bus. 
     
     
         15 . The battery pack of  claim 8 , wherein, in the sleep state, the battery pack provides a stand-by voltage to its output terminals and provides power to a pilot detect module. 
     
     
         16 . A respiratory therapy device to generate a flow of breathable gas to a patient, comprising:
 a housing;   a flow generator in the housing to generate the flow of breathable gas, the flow generator having an operating voltage; and   a battery pack according to  claim 1 , engageable with the housing and configured to power the flow generator.   
     
     
         17 . The respiratory therapy device of  claim 16 , wherein the flow generator comprises a controller configured to control the flow generator to generate a positive airway pressure therapy. 
     
     
         18 . A control method for operation of a removable battery pack for a respiratory therapy device that generates a flow of breathable gas to a patient, the control method comprising:
 operating the removable battery pack in each of two or more of states comprising: a charge state, an idle state, a supply state, an error state, a sleep state and a power state; and   transitioning the removable battery pack between the two or more states, wherein the transitioning is based on any of:   pressing of a battery check button, attachment of the removable battery pack to a flow generator, pressing of a power button, and detection of an abnormal operating parameter.   
     
     
         19 . The control method of  claim 18 , further comprising operating the removable battery pack in the charge state, the idle state, the supply state, the error state, the sleep state and the power state. 
     
     
         20 . The control method of  claim 18 , further comprising transitioning the removable battery pack to the charge state, the idle state, the supply state, the error state, the sleep state and the power state, wherein the transitioning is based on: pressing of a battery check button, attachment of the removable battery pack to a flow generator, pressing of a power button, and detection of an abnormal operating parameter. 
     
     
         21 . The control method of  claim 19 , further comprising transitioning the removable battery pack between the two or more states, wherein the transitioning is based on each of: pressing of a battery check button, attachment of the removable battery pack to a flow generator, pressing of a power button, detection of an abnormal operating parameter.