Dupaco Palomar Machine

WLMD ID: apnz

Du Pa Co, Inc. was founded in Arcadia, California in the early 1950s by two engineers, Armand F. DuFresne (1917-2015) and Franklin H. Page, PhD (1917-1961). Both men were graduates of the California Institute of Technology. By 1966, the company name had been changed to Dupaco, Inc., and around 1975 it moved to San Marcos, California. From the 1960s to the 1980s, the company made anesthesia machines. The Palomar Model, also called the Model 78800, was marketed from 1975 to 1980. It could administer nitrous oxide, oxygen and volatile anesthetics, and had safety features including an oxygen flush valve and an oxygen fail-safe valve. The options for this model included attachments for the Bird Mark 4 Assistor/Controller, and Cyprane vaporizers. Now located in Oceanside, California, the company continues to make medical devices.

Catalog Record: Dupaco Palomar Machine Palomar Machine

Access Key: apnz

Accession No.: 2006-10-31-1 A

Title: Palomar Model / Dupaco, Inc.

Corporate Author: Dupaco, Inc.

Title variation: Alt Title
Title: Model 78800.

Publisher: San Marcos, California : Dupaco, Inc., [between 1970 and 1990].

Physical Description: 1 anesthesia machine : metals, plastics, glass ; 155 x 92 x 92 cm.

Subject: Anesthesia, Inhalation – instrumentation.
Subject: Anesthesia Machines.
Subject: Nitrous Oxide.
Subject: Oxygen.

Note Type: General
Notes: The first year in the date range is the year of publication of the catalog which precedes the first catalog that includes the Palomar Model. The second year in the date range is estimated from the fact that no publications later than 1980 have been found.

Described from the perspective of an operator facing the controls. Height, width and depth will vary depending on the attitude of the absorber pole, and, if attached, the absorber.

For purposes of photography, the cataloged object was married to the carbon dioxide absorber, and the oxygen and nitrous oxide cylinder yoke capstan handles, from the Dupaco Ventura machine, Accession # 2014-09-24-1 A.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: California Institute of Technology website. http://caltechcampuspubs.library.caltech.edu/2495/1/June_10%2C_1938.pdf. Accessed April 14, 2017.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: California Institute of Technology website. http://caltechcampuspubs.library.caltech.edu/2557/2/1950.pdf. Accessed April 14, 2017.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Dorsch, JA, Dorsch SE. Understanding Anesthesia Equipment: Construction, Care and Complications. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins Company, 1975: 233, 236.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Du Fresne AF, Page FH, inventors; Du Pa Co, Inc., assignee. Changing circuit. US patent 2,943,255. June 28, 1960.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Du Fresne, AF, Page FH, inventors; Du Pa Co, Inc., assignee. Moveable support. US patent 2,959,454. November 8, 1960.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Dupaco. Dupaco Anesthesia Apparatus Repair and Maintenance Manual. Arcadia, California: Dupaco, Inc., 1970.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Dupaco. Dupaco anesthesia and respiratory care products. San Marcos, California: Dupaco, ca. 1975.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Dupaco. Dupaco anesthesia and respiratory care products. San Marcos, California: Dupaco, 1980.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Dupaco company file. Archives. Located at: Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, Schaumburg, Illinois.

Note Type: Citation
Notes: Dupaco, Inc. website. http://dupacoinc.com/. Accessed April 13.2017.

Note Type: Physical Description
Notes: One anesthesia machine; In the short description, the machine was measured without the absorber that was married to it for purposes of photography; With the absorber mounted and aligned on the left (or right) of the machine, the width would be approximately 167 centimeters; With the absorber mounted and aligned in front of the machine, the depth would be approximately 102 centimeters;

The four-wheeled cabinet is copper-colored, and has five drawers; The top three drawers are of equal depth, the fourth drawer is roughly twice that depth, and the fifth drawer is roughly twice as deep as the fourth; Two absorber poles are fixed in the right and left front feet of the machine, respectively, immediately above the wheels; In the short description, the machine was measured with the absorber pole at its fullest stable height; The pole can be extended higher than this, but it would not be stable; With the pole at its lowest setting, the height of the machine is 133 centimeters; The back of the machine holds one yoke for an oxygen cylinder and one connector for piped oxygen, and one yoke for a nitrous oxide cylinder and one connector for piped nitrous oxide;

The tabletop is divided into two unequal sections; The section toward the rear holds the vaporizer and flowmeter bank; The flowmeter bank has three tubes and three control knobs; It is seated on the left side of the tabletop; At the top of the face of the bank is the maker’s logo: “DUPACO”; A yellow label at the right side of the far right tube is labeled, from top to bottom: “37721 [this number is hand-written], 1,100, 1,000, .900, .800, .700, .600, .500, .400, .300, .200, .100, 0.50, 0.20, OXYGEN THRU VAPORATOR”; Below this tube is a white control knob; A blue label at the right side of the middle tube is labeled, from top to bottom: [illegible, hand-written number], “11. , 10. , 9. , 7. , 6. , 5. , 4. , 3. , 2. , 1. , .500, .250, NITROUS OXIDE”; Below this tube is a blue control knob; A green label at the right side of the far left tube reads, from top to bottom: “127634 [this number is hand written], 8. , 7. , 6. , 5. , 4. , 3. , 2. , 1. , .500, .250, OXYGEN”; Below this tube is a knurled, green control knob; The flowmeter bank measures approximately 41 centimeters in height and 12 centimeters in width; The depth of the flowmeter is variable depending upon the setting of each knob;

A vaporizer is seated to the right of the flowmeter bank; This is a silver-toned metallic cylinder, approximately 23 centimeters tall and 13 centimeters in diameter; A black label with silver text surrounds the gauge tube on the front of the vaporizer; The top of this label is marked “DUPACO [new line] VAPORATOR”; On the left side of the tube the label reads: “FULL”; on the right side of the tube, the label reads, from top to bottom: “CC, 400, 300, 200, 100, 0”; There is a fill port on the back of the vaporizer that closes with a screw cap;

Two posts rise from rear left and right corners of the tabletop; These posts support a horizontal bar that can hold additional vaporizers; Two conduit tubes extend upward from the back of the flowmeter to this bar (one to the upper portion of the bar and one to the lower); Another conduit tube extends upward from the right rear side of the tabletop to the lower portion of the bar, but is not connected to it;

A label in the right rear corner of the tabletop reads: “This apparatus is equipped with [new line] DUPACO [new line] AUDIBLE ALARM [new line] NOTE: N2O supply must be [new line] turned on to energize [new line] Audible Alarm [new line] and [new line] FAILSAFE PROTECTION”;

Note Type: Physical Description
Notes: The panel on the front of the machine, immediately below the tabletop, has the following features: on the far left there is a connector (called a “machine outlet”); To the right of this connector is a control panel; The control panel is occupied on the left by the Vaporizer Selector Valve (an on-off knob), and on the right by the oxygen flush button; Above the control knob, the panel is labeled, from left to right: “VAPORATOR ON [new line] OFF [new line] DIRECT READING VAPORIZER ON”; Above the button, the panel is labeled: “OXYGEN FLUSH [new line] PUSH TO FLUSH”;

Below this panel there is another label that reads: “CAUTION: [new line] This apparatus equipped with Vaporator [new line] flowmeter safety shutoff. Carrier gas [new line] flows only with selector valves on. [new line] CLOSE VAPORATOR FLOW CONTROL VALVE [new line] WHENEVER SELECTOR VALVE IS OFF”;

Near the right edge of the front of the machine there are two gauges; The gauge on the left is blue and is marked: “0, 250, 500, 750, 1000, 1250, 1500 [new line] DUPACO [new line] N2O [new line] PSIG”; The gauge on the left is green and is marked: “0, 500, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000 [new line] DUPACO [new line] O2 [new line] PSIG”; A label on the right side of the cabinet reads: “The PALOMAR [new line] MODEL NO. 78800, SERIAL NO. P-7042 [new line] A PRODUCT OF [new line] DUPACO, INCORPORATED [new line] SAN MARCOS, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.”.

Note Type: Reproduction
Notes: Photographed by Mr. Steve Donisch, November 16, 2016.

Note Type: Historical
Notes: In 1954, inventors Armand F. Du Fresne and Franklin H. Page applied jointly for two patents. Both patents were granted, and were assigned to Du Pa Co, Inc., of Arcadia, California. By 1966, the company name had been changed to Dupaco, Inc. By 1975, the company had moved to San Marcos, California, and it is now located in Oceanside, California. The company’s website states that it was founded in 1975.

Dr. Page (1917-1961) received his PhD in Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1950, and was the company’s founding president. Mr. Du Fresne (1917-2015) had earned his B. A. in Engineering from Caltech in 1938, and served as the company’s second president. Dupaco made anesthesia machines from the late 1950s to the 1980s. Today the company continues to make medical devices. The Dupaco Palomar Model anesthesia machine, also called the Model 78800, was marketed in the 1970s and 1980s. It could administer nitrous oxide, oxygen and a liquid anesthetic.

Note Type: Exhibition
Notes: Selected for the WLM website.