Hands-Free Pumping Bustier with Elastic Shield Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing breast pump systems require nursing women to manually hold the breast shield in place, limiting their ability to perform other tasks during milk extraction, as previous garments have inadequately secured the breast shield and often required frequent adjustments.
Innovation Solution
A hands-free tubular bustier with a top and bottom band, featuring a single-ply back and double-ply front portions, additional support members, and elastic edges to secure the breast shield, allowing for secure and comfortable hands-free pumping across various body types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a breast pump system uses a breast shield that requires manual holding, then the woman can control the positioning of the breast shield, but her hands are occupied and she cannot perform other tasks
Solution Approach 1:
The bustier acts as an intermediary device between the woman's body and the breast shield. It includes a front portion with an opening that receives the breast shield, and a back portion with elastic material that secures the breast shield in place without requiring manual holding. This mediator allows hands-free operation while maintaining reliable positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The bustier is designed to automatically secure and hold the breast shield in position through its elastic material and structural design. Once the breast shield is inserted through the opening, the elastic material on the back portion automatically engages to hold it securely, eliminating the need for continuous manual adjustment or intervention.
2Ease of operation
If previous brassieres and bustiers are used to hold the breast shield, then hands-free pumping is enabled, but the breast shield is not adequately secured and requires frequent adjustments
Solution Approach 1:
The bustier features differentiated structural qualities in different regions: the front portion has a specific opening configuration to receive the breast shield, while the back portion incorporates elastic material with specific tension properties. This local differentiation of material properties and structural features enables secure retention without frequent adjustments.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic material on the back portion is designed with specific elasticity parameters that allow it to exert appropriate holding force on the breast shield. The degree of elasticity and tension is carefully controlled to provide secure retention while maintaining comfort and preventing slippage during hands-free pumping.
3Reliability
If the bustier uses multiple layers of material to provide support, then the breast shield is better secured, but the weight of the bustier increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bustier uses a single ply of material for the back portion where minimal support is needed, and transitions to double ply construction only in the front portions where breast shield support and security are critical. This localized multi-layer construction provides necessary support while minimizing overall weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The bustier is divided into distinct functional segments: a single-ply back portion for minimal weight and comfort, and double-ply front portions for enhanced support. The elastic material is also segmented and positioned specifically on the back portion to provide targeted retention force only where needed for breast shield security.
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 bustier effectively secures the breast shield in place, allowing for hands-free pumping without the need for constant adjustments, accommodating different breast and ribcage sizes, and preventing the breast shield from slipping, while ensuring comfort and ease of use.
Implementation Method 1
The top band can be formed of a suitable, stretchable material, such as a wide strip of elastic
Implementation Method 2
The combination of a single ply material back portion and double ply material front portions forms layers that improve the ability of the bustier to adapt to different body types
Data Source
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AI summary
A hands free pumping bustier provides a nursing woman with a convenient way of supporting funnel-shaped breast shields that are used as the nipple and breast interface during expression of milk. The bustier features breast shield ports having additional support members that extend upward to a top band of the bustier, providing superior support for the breast shields, enabling the bustier to accommodate differently sized breast shields, and simplifying manufacture of the bustier. The bustier further features a hook at the top of the zipper, which helps the nursing woman to easily maintain the garment around her body as she uses both hands to secure and zip the zipper. The bustier is made of a stretch nylon multi-filament yarn, such that it has adequate stretch capability to accommodate women of different body sizes and shapes while maintaining comfortable compression of the breast shields against their bodies.