Environment

Portable oxygen concentrators (POCs) are equipped with air compressors, which force air through molecular sieves to absorb nitrogen and leave remaining air that is concentrated with oxygen. These compressors generally use a “wobble” design and piston cup seals. The piston moves up and down in the cylinder to drive the piston rod off center, while the cup seal twists in the cylinder on each stroke – hence where the term “wobble” comes from. 

Piston cup seals are critical due to two functions.  Firstly, the seal must function as a bearing. If the seal is removed from the hardware, the piston will hit against the cylinder wall. Secondly, since compressors need to run completely dry, the seal provides leakage and wear control. 

Benefits

Piston Cup Seals in the oxygen concentrator compressors play a critical role in ensuring functionality of the oxygen system. Peace of mind comes from using reliable, quality products built for dependability and endurance. Given the typical motor rpm of thousands of cycles, the flexural stress on the seals is quite high; therefore, it is important for the POC to run thousands of hours without maintenance or failure.  Consumers expect that they can rely on the POC running for up to five hours before recharging. In addition, low frictional loads are beneficial to reduce power consumption.