Breast Pump Segmented Housing and Piston Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing breast pumps are bulky, difficult to align, prone to leaks when not vertical, and do not allow for visual monitoring of milk flow or container filling, with complex fluid connections and air-based suction systems that lack precise control.
Innovation Solution
A breast pump design with a detachable breast shield element and milk container, featuring a motor-driven piston and membrane system that creates suction pressure, allowing for direct connection and alignment of components, visual monitoring of milk flow, and a two-way valve for controlled suction pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the breast pump is designed with a bulky housing to accommodate all components, then reliability of fluid connections is improved, but portability and ease of operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The breast pump is divided into separable components: a breast shield assembly, a collection container, and a housing with aggregate. These modules can be connected or separated as needed, allowing reliable fluid connections when assembled while maintaining portability when separated. The breast shield assembly with integrated nipple tunnel and collection container can be detached from the housing.
Solution Approach 2:
The breast shield element is received within the housing, and the collection container is positioned within the housing to receive expressed milk. This nested arrangement allows multiple components to occupy space efficiently, reducing the overall pump size while maintaining reliable fluid connections between nested components.
2Manufacturing precision
If the breast shield element is fixed to the housing, then alignment precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to inability to adjust or clean separately
Solution Approach 1:
The breast shield element is made separable from the housing, allowing it to be removed for cleaning or replacement. The breast shield assembly can be detached from the housing while maintaining precise alignment features such as a receptacle that receives the breast shield with proper positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The breast shield element is designed to be dynamically adjustable - it can be inserted into the housing with proper alignment, removed for cleaning, and reinserted. This dynamic capability provides both alignment precision during use and ease of operation for maintenance.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the milk container is positioned below the housing, then stability is improved, but visual monitoring of milk flow becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The collection container is designed with transparent walls allowing visual monitoring of milk accumulation from the side, rather than requiring top-down viewing. This dimensional change in observation approach allows the container to remain positioned below the housing for stability while enabling easy visual monitoring through transparent material.
Solution Approach 2:
The collection container incorporates transparent or translucent material that allows light transmission, enabling the user to visually detect milk flow and accumulation level without changing the container's position. The transparency provides optical access to the milk collection area.
4Device complexity
If an air-based suction system is used, then device complexity is reduced, but suction pressure control precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The aggregate replaces the simple air pump with a more sophisticated mechanical system including a piston, membrane, and valve assembly. This mechanical system provides precise control over suction pressure applied to the breast, improving pressure control precision while accepting increased device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The aggregate incorporates a variable suction pressure mechanism that can adjust the suction pressure parameter applied to the breast. The piston and membrane system allows control of pressure magnitude, providing precise suction pressure control rather than fixed air-based suction.
5Volume of moving object
If the breast pump is designed to be compact, then portability is improved, but reliability of sealing and prevention of leaks deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pump is divided into modular components with dedicated sealing interfaces: the breast shield assembly seals against the housing, and the collection container seals within the housing. This segmentation allows each interface to be optimized for sealing in a compact design rather than requiring a large integrated sealing surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The nested arrangement of components (breast shield within housing, collection container within housing) creates multiple sealing interfaces in a compact volume. Each nested interface provides redundant sealing, maintaining reliability while minimizing overall pump size.
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
The design provides a compact, easy-to-use breast pump that prevents leaks, allows visual monitoring of milk flow, and maintains proper suction pressure, enhancing pumping efficiency and user experience.
Implementation Method 1
an aggregate provides the power for generating a suction pressure for expressing milk of a breast-feeding mother
Data Source
AI summary
A breast pump shaped at least in part to fit inside a bra and comprising a housing including an aggregate, a breast shield element including a nipple tunnel adapted to receive a nipple, and a milk container adapted to contain a predetermined amount of expressed milk, wherein the breast shield element and the milk container are detachable from the housing. The present invention proposes an aggregate including a piston adapted to reciprocate within the housing, which piston moves the membrane. In the method expressed milk flows from a nipple chamber, which when the breast shield element is laid against a breast is defined in the nipple tunnel between a free end of the nipple tunnel and the breast, through the milk outlet valve into the pumping chamber and from the pumping chamber through the container valve into the milk chamber.