Breast Pump Liner With Downward Sloping Milk Passage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional breast interfaces require women to lean forward for an extended period, leading to discomfort during milk expression, as milk needs to flow towards a receptacle, which can be tiring and uncomfortable.
Innovation Solution
A breast interface with a flexible liner that includes a front section with a breast contact surface and a rear section with a tubular wall part, where the longitudinal axis of the front section extends horizontally and the tubular wall part slopes downward, allowing milk to flow naturally into a receptacle without the need for forward leaning, facilitated by a liner support frame with interconnecting rings for assembly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional breast interface design is used, then milk can be expressed from the breast, but the user must lean forward for extended periods causing discomfort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a vertical dimension to the milk flow path by sloping the rearward tapering wall part downwardly at an angle of 45-90 degrees. This dimensional change allows milk to flow downward into the receptacle positioned below the breast interface, eliminating the need for forward leaning and resolving the contradiction between milk expression function and user comfort
2Ease of operation
If the breast interface is positioned horizontally, then user comfort is improved, but milk flow into the receptacle becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different orientations to different parts of the device: the front section maintains a horizontal orientation for user comfort, while the rearward tapering wall part is sloped downward at 45-90 degrees to facilitate milk flow. This local differentiation of orientation allows both comfort and productivity requirements to be satisfied simultaneously
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design allows for comfortable milk expression without the need to lean forward, reducing user discomfort and enabling efficient milk flow into a receptacle through gravity, thus improving the usability of breast pumps.
Implementation Method 1
the tubular wall part of the rear section has a lower inner surface portion that partially bounds the milk passage, and that—in said use orientation, seen in a rearward direction—slopes downwardly relative to the longitudinal axis
Data Source
AI summary
A liner (100) for use in a breast interface (70) comprises a front section (110) including a front wall part (112) defining a breast contact surface (118) and an opening (116b) provided in the breast contact surface. The breast contact surface (118) is configured to abut a woman's breast during use, while a nipple of the breast protrudes at least partially through the opening (116b). The breast interface further comprises a rear section (170), connected to the front section (140), that includes a tubular wall part (171) having a rear end opening. The front and rear sections (110, 170) together define a milk passage (190) that extends from the opening (116b) in the breast contact surface (118) to the rear end opening of the tubular wall part (171), wherein the milk passage slopes downwardly in the rearward direction.