NOISE-ATTENUATING PNEUMATIC COMPRESSOR

摘要

A pneumatic compressor (10) supplies both positive and negative pressure for operating a medical device (300). The pulsing sounds generated by the compressor are attenuated by connecting the inlet (224) of the positive pressure side (34) of the compressor and the outlet (124) of the negative pressure side (32) of the compressor to a common resonating chamber (30). A port (400) in the resonating chamber acts as an outlet for the discharge of excess air in the chamber and an inlet for the entry of make-up air. By adjusting the diameter of the port with respect to the volume of the resonating chamber, sound attenuation can be optimized. In a compact design, the compressor housing serves as the resonating chamber.