Wearable Breast Pump with Dome and Flat Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional breast pumps, both manual and electric, lack user privacy and wearability, being bulky, noisy, and requiring maintenance, while electric pumps are costly and inconvenient for public use.
Innovation Solution
A wearable breast pump design featuring a conical flange with a truncated apex and a milk reservoir with a dome surface and flat surface, allowing discreet operation under clothing, optimized for manual operation, easy cleaning, and reduced bulkiness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional breast pumps are used, then milk extraction function is provided, but user privacy and wearability are compromised due to bulky design
Solution Approach 1:
The pump system is divided into separate functional modules: a flange component for breast attachment, a milk reservoir for milk collection, and a manual pumping mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, resulting in a more compact and wearable design while maintaining full functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The pump design transitions from a traditional horizontal orientation to a vertical orientation that utilizes the body's natural contours. The flange and reservoir are shaped to conform to the breast and body anatomy, allowing the pump to be worn against the body in a compact configuration that improves wearability and reduces perceived bulkiness.
2Productivity
If electric breast pumps are used, then automated milk extraction is achieved, but cost and maintenance requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The pump employs a manual pumping mechanism that requires no external power source, motor, or electronic controls. The user manually operates the pumping action through simple hand movements, eliminating all associated maintenance requirements of electric pumps while maintaining effective milk extraction capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the complex electric motor and electronic control system of conventional electric pumps with a simple manual mechanical pumping mechanism. This substitution eliminates motors, batteries, power supplies, and electronic components, thereby reducing device complexity and maintenance requirements while preserving the core milk extraction function.
3Ease of operation
If conventional breast pumps are used, then milk extraction function is provided, but noise and inconvenience for public use occur
Solution Approach 1:
The manual pumping mechanism generates no mechanical noise associated with motors or electronic components. The quiet operation is achieved through pure manual mechanical action, making the pump suitable for public use in libraries, offices, and other quiet environments where electric pumps would be inappropriate due to noise.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If wearable pump design is implemented, then user privacy is improved, but structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flange and milk reservoir are designed with curved surfaces that conform to the natural contours of the breast and body. This curvature allows the pump to be worn against the body in a compact configuration that maximizes privacy and discretion while maintaining a relatively simple structural form factor.
Solution Approach 2:
The pump components are designed with asymmetric shapes that match the natural anatomy of the breast and body. The flange has an irregular shape that conforms to breast contours, and the reservoir is positioned and shaped to fit against the body, creating a compact wearable profile that improves privacy without requiring complex structural elements.
Data Source
AI summary
Wearable breast pumps optimized for user privacy and wearability are provided. In one embodiment, a wearable breast pump is provided, the wearable breast pump comprising: a flange that is hollow, wherein the flange comprises: a main opening for receiving and attaching to a user's breast; and a first transition opening that allows passage between the flange and a milk reservoir; the milk reservoir that is hollow and connected to the flange, the milk reservoir comprising: a second transition opening that allows passage between the flange and the milk reservoir; a dome surface that drapes a user's clothing when the wearable breast pump is in a pump orientation; and a flat surface connected to the dome surface, wherein the flat surface allows the wearable breast pump to rest horizontally in a storage orientation.