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"Cyberspace is a metaphor that allows us to grasp this place where since about the time of the second world war we've increasingly done so many of the things that we think of as civilization."
- William Gibson

Airmaker  
  A device that creates a specific breathable mix directly from the atmosphere.  

It seems clear that at least part of the breathable mix required for Trinocs can be taken directly from the atmosphere.

"How did you get a Trinoc to come?"

"Don't tell me he's still here."

"Oh, no. His air was running out and he had to go home."

"A little white lie," Louis informed her. "A Trinoc airmaker lasts for weeks."

From Ringworld, by Larry Niven.
Published by Ballantine in 1970
Additional resources -

This is actually a pretty good idea, since similar products called "oxygen concentrators" are starting to replace oxygen cylinders. They are substantially less dangerous that cylinders of oxygen.

Aliens in sf sometimes require something in addition to the elements of Earth's air. In his classic 1953 novel Childhood's End, for example, Arthur C. Clarke's Overlords sometimes needed more than the atmosphere provides:

Though they [the Overlords] seemed able to breathe terrestrial air, they sometimes carried small cylinders of gas from which they refreshed themselves occasionally.

Compare to David Brin's oxygen hip flask from his 1990 novel Earth.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Ringworld
  More Ideas and Technology by Larry Niven
  Tech news articles related to Ringworld
  Tech news articles related to works by Larry Niven

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