Stepper-Driven Breast Pump for Compact Suction Pressure Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional breast pumps require a large main body unit and a chamber with a large capacity to generate sufficient negative pressure, resulting in an overall device size that is inconvenient for portability and use outside of fixed installations.
Innovation Solution
A breast pump design utilizing a stepping motor power driving unit that adjusts cycle period and amplitude, eliminating the need for a large buffer and allowing for compact construction, with a mechanism for negative pressure formation using linear moving bodies and an endless belt for stable power transmission, enabling adjustable rotation speed and torque.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If a large main body unit and large capacity chamber are used to generate sufficient negative pressure, then the required suction pressure and negative pressure are achieved, but the overall device size increases making it inconvenient for portability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the horn portion expandable and contractible during operation. The elastic body expands during the suction phase to increase chamber capacity and generate negative pressure, then contracts during the release phase to reduce volume. This dynamic volume change allows the device to achieve required suction pressure without needing a permanently large chamber, thus reducing overall device size while maintaining portability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state and volume parameters of the chamber dynamically. By using an elastic body that can expand and contract, the chamber capacity varies between phases of operation. During suction, the expanded state provides large capacity for effective negative pressure generation; during release, the contracted state minimizes volume. This parameter change resolves the contradiction between achieving sufficient suction pressure and maintaining compact device size.
2Reliability
If the horn portion is fitted tightly to the breast, then effective negative pressure is generated for milk expression, but the device structure becomes more complex requiring precise fitting mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible elastic body as the horn portion that can be compressed and expanded. This flexible structure naturally conforms to the breast shape when compressed, creating an effective seal for negative pressure generation without requiring complex rigid fitting mechanisms. The elasticity of the material provides the necessary adaptability, simplifying the overall device structure while maintaining reliable milk expression.
3Device complexity
If a single shaft linearly reciprocates to move a diaphragm, then the mechanism is simple, but a large buffer is required increasing device size
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the need for a large buffer by directly using the elastic body itself to perform both the sealing and volume change functions. Instead of requiring a separate buffer component to store and release air, the elastic horn portion directly expands and contracts to create the necessary pressure changes. This extraction of the buffer function into the horn structure itself simplifies the mechanism and reduces device size.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic body serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as the sealing interface against the breast, the expanding/contracting element for volume change, and the structural component defining the chamber. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate components like buffers or complex diaphragm mechanisms, achieving simple mechanism structure without requiring large device volume.
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 achieves a compact breast pump capable of generating desired suction pressure and pressure cycles, allowing for efficient operation and easy cleaning, with the ability to be adjusted for individual user preferences, reducing the need for ancillary structures and enhancing portability.
Implementation Method 1
a power driving unit including a stepping motor
Implementation Method 2
each moving body has one end fixed to an inner side of the elastic body so as to linearly move in a rotation direction of a motor shaft of the stepping motor, and the other end exposed toward the outside of the horn-shaped expressing unit
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
A breast pump according to the present invention includes a variable pressure generating unit, the variable pressure generating unit including a power driving unit including a stepping motor that is capable of rotating both normally and in reverse, and a negative pressure forming unit that creates a negative pressure state periodically by causing an elastic body to deform in accordance with a cycle period formed by the power driving unit, wherein the negative pressure forming unit is coupled to the expressing unit, and the stepping motor is capable of modifying an amplitude of the cycle period and the cycle period during negative pressure formation as desired. Hence, a suction pressure and a pressure increase/decrease cycle can both be set as desired, and moreover, a breast pump that uses electric power can be constructed compactly.