Breast Pump With Static Vacuum and Nipple Stimulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing breast pumps are often large, expensive, and noisy, making them impractical for wearable applications and requiring complex components like vacuum pumps and motors.
Innovation Solution
A breast pump design that combines mechanical oscillation or vibration stimulation with a static negative pressure source, eliminating the need for cyclic pressure modulation and reducing noise and power consumption, using a contact stimulation unit and a compressible chamber for passive vacuum.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If a breast pump system uses electrical components and circuit boards, then the device can provide controlled pumping functions, but the device becomes susceptible to moisture damage and requires complex protective measures
Solution Approach 1:
The breast pump system is divided into separate functional modules: a motor assembly containing electrical components, a pumping mechanism, and a breast shield. The motor assembly is hermetically sealed to isolate electrical components from moisture, while the pumping mechanism uses a diaphragm and valve system that operates without electrical parts in the milk extraction path.
Solution Approach 2:
A hermetic seal acts as an intermediary barrier between the electrical components and the moist environment. The seal prevents moisture ingress to electrical parts while allowing the device to function in a breast pumping context. Additionally, a diaphragm serves as an intermediary that transmits motor motion to the pumping action without direct mechanical connection that could compromise the seal.
2Reliability
If the breast pump uses a hermetic seal to protect electrical components, then moisture protection is improved, but disassembly and cleaning become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The breast pump employs a removable breast shield and modular assembly that can be detached for cleaning while the hermetically sealed motor assembly remains intact. The dynamic design allows users to remove and clean the breast shield and pumping mechanism separately, maintaining the hermetic seal's protective function while enabling easy cleaning of non-sealed components.
3Ease of operation
If the breast pump mechanism uses a diaphragm and valve system, then milk flow control is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The breast pump design extracts and eliminates complex electrical flow control components from the milk path. Instead, it uses a simple diaphragm and valve system that provides effective milk flow control through mechanical means. The valve system opens and closes based on pressure differential, providing intuitive flow control without requiring complex electronic controls or sensors in the breast shield area.
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 cost-effective, compact, and quiet breast pump that effectively stimulates milk ejection reflex, reducing the need for complex components and enabling discreet use.
Implementation Method 1
The motor may be any type of motor known in the art, including but not limited to AC motors, DC motors, and pulse width modulation (PWM) motors.
Implementation Method 2
A breast pump generally includes a motor, a pumping mechanism, and a breast shield. The motor may be any type of motor known in the art, including but not limited to AC motors, DC motors, and pulse width modulation (PWM) motors.
Data Source
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AI summary
A breast pump has a breast shield for fitting over at least the nipple of a breast thereby to create a cavity over the breast. A stimulation unit is used to apply a physical stimulus to the nipple and/or to a portion of the breast for stimulating the milk ejection reflex. A negative pressure source is used to apply a static negative pressure to the cavity for holding the breast shield on the breast during milk expression, and promoting expression, while milk is collected in a milk collection container. This provides a low cost and low noise breast pump.