WO2004014462A1

WO2004014462A1 - Manual breast-pump with suction member providing constant operability with time

Info

Publication number: WO2004014462A1
Application number: PCT/EP2003/005914
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pietro Catelli
Original assignee: Artsana SpA
Current assignee: Artsana SpA
Priority date: 2002-08-02
Filing date: 2003-06-05
Publication date: 2004-02-19
Anticipated expiration: 2005-02-02
Also published as: TW200403084A; ITMI20021765A1; AU2003236699A1

Abstract

A manual breast-pump (1) comprises a body (2) to be associated with a bottle (7) for collecting the milk, said body (2) presenting a bell-shaped part (3) to cooperate with a woman's breast, and a suction member or pump presenting a piston (31) inserted into a cylinder (32), said cylinder (32) and piston (31) being movable relative to each other, an operating element (30) for said suction member being provided movable relative to the body (2) of the breast-pump, said piston (31) being fixed and the cylinder (32) being movable; the piston comprises a discoidal element relatively movable within the cylinder.

Description

MANUAL BREAST-PUMP WITH SUCTION MEMBER PROVIDING CONSTANT OPERABILITY WITH TIME

The present invention relates to a manual breast-pump in accordance with the introduction to the main claim.

Manual breast-pumps have been known for some time. They generally comprise a body presenting a bell-shaped part to be coupled to a woman's breast from which the milk is to be extracted; with this body there is associated a manually operated pump which in known solutions takes the most disparate forms. With particular reference to known breast-pumps operable with a single hand (that hand supporting both the breast-pump and the bottle while at the same time manipulating an operating element of the suction member), the said operating element is for example in the form of a lever hinged to the body of the breast-pump or to a part of the pumping member, and the suction member comprises a piston and a cylinder. The piston is usually associated with the operating element, whereas the cylinder is provided within the body of the breast-pump or within the body of the pumping member associated with this latter. Pumping members are known in which the piston, during its movement, travels through a curved trajectory within the cylinder. This solution enables manual breast-pumps to be obtained which are more simple to use, but often requires the piston to be in the form of a member physically separated from the operating member and loosely connected to this latter in a manner free to move relative to said operating member about the region in which it is connected thereto. The reason for this is to enable the piston to properly travel through its trajectory within the cylinder which is of curved axis. This solution presents the drawback that with the passage of time, because of the non-rigid connection between the operating member and the piston, said piston is slack within the cylinder to an extent which cannot be compensated by the usual seal member positioned at its head and which has to slide along the cylinder wall. Consequently, the suction effect of the pumping member of the breast-pump begins fo decline, with obvious problems for the operability of the breast-pump. In addition, the connection between the piston and the operating member can lead to a further loss of operability of the breast-pump (again linked to the slackness of the piston within the cylinder) if assembly errors involving these components are present, their assembly in any event representing a cost which cannot be ignored.

A further drawback is that any connection between the body of the suction member and the body of the breast-pump can give rise to further points of loss of the vacuum which is created within the cylinder by the movement of the piston therein. A further and final drawback is the large number of components of the breast- pump, this number resulting in a high cost of the finished product because of the time required for its assembly.

Breast-pumps are also known in which the suction member comprises a fixed piston on which the cylinder moves. Examples of this breast-pump are readable in DE836560 and in US4892517.

In particular, DE836560 relates to a breast-pump in which the suction member comprises a first hollow tubular element connected to a bell-shaped part and on which there moves a second tubular element closed at one end; the movement of this second element, acting as a cylinder in which the first tubular element acting as the piston is contained, creates the suction on the milk which is collected directly in said second element, which can hence act as a feeding bottle.

US4892517 comprises a breast-pump having a manifold member provided with three apertures connected respectively to a bell-shaped part, to a bottle and to a first tubular element acting as the piston of the suction member. On this latter there moves a second tubular element acting as the cylinder for the suction member and which when moving on the first member creates the suction on the milk which passes from the bell-shaped part into the manifold member and then by gravity into the bottle. The solutions of the aforecited known art present various drawbacks: firstly, no breast-pump of the prior art can be operated with one hand (which retains the bottle and at the same time operates the suction member) because of the projecting shape of the tubular body defining the fixed piston and because of the manner in which this suction member is operated (by sliding the cylinder on the piston).

Moreover, the shape of the tubular body defining the fixed piston (elongate shape projecting from the breast-pump and from the combined breast-pump- bottle) is essential in order to secure to the breast-pump the tubular body defining the movable cylinder and to enable the suction member to operate effectively. In effect, the movable cylinder is secured to the breast-pump only by being mounted on the fixed piston. In addition, in DE836560 the movable cylinder also acts as the milk collection bottle and hence, to enable a sufficiently large quantity of liquid to be collected, it must necessarily have appreciable longitudinal dimensions. This results in a further increase in the dimensions of the breast-pump. Moreover, the breast- pump of this previous German patent is not easy to use precisely because the cylinder also acts as the milk collection bottle and, when in use, it fills with liquid (making the breast-pump heavy).

In contrast, in US4892517, the milk arriving in the manifold member can easily flow into the tubular body acting as the fixed piston, this making it necessary to carefully clean this latter after each use to prevent bacteria arising therein due to the presence of residual milk. An object of the present invention is to provide a breast-pump which is improved compared with known breast-pumps.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a breast-pump which has constant operability with time, and in which the vacuum created by the pumping member is always such as to enable the milk to be correctly drawn from the woman's breast.

Another object is to provide a breast-pump of the stated type which has only a small number of components, hence enabling the production cost and time to be reduced. A further object is to provide a breast-pump the assembly of which is such as to avoid losses between the suction member and the bell-shaped part of the breast-pump body.

Another object is to provide a compact breast-pump which is simple to use and is hygienically safe. These and further objects which will be apparent to the expert of the art are attained by a breast-pump in accordance with the accompanying claims. The present invention will be more apparent from the accompanying drawing, which is provided by way of non-limiting example and. in which: Figure 1 is a transparent side view of a breast-pump according to the invention applied to a bottle;

Figure 2 is a cross-section through the breast-pump of Figure 1 ; Figures from 3 to 5 are side views showing the breast-pump with bottle at different stages of use; Figure 6 is a perspective exploded view of a different embodiment of the invention;

Figure 7 is a side view of the breast-pump of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a longitudinal section through the breast-pump of Figure 7; and Figure 9 is a longitudinal section through a part of the breast-pump of Figure 7, but from the opposite side to that of the view of Figure 8.

With reference to said figures, a breast-pump according to the invention is indicated overall by 1. It comprises a body 2 provided with a bell-shaped part 3 to be coupled to a woman's breast from which milk is to be extracted. A yieldable element 3K (for example of silicone) adapted to contact the breast can be advantageously disposed on the part 3 (see Figures 6-8). This element presents a free edge able to fold about an edge 3D of the bell-shaped part 3. The body 2 is provided with an internally threaded cap-shaped part 5 to cooperate with a threaded end 6 of a bottle 7 for collecting the milk. The cap- shaped part overlies the end 6. The bell-shaped part 3 is internally hollow at 3A and communicates with a conduit 10 provided within a cylindrical element projecting into the interior of the cap-shaped part 5 from a flat part 12 of this latter to which the bell-shaped part 3 is fixed. To the side of the (first) conduit 10 and separated from it by a wall 15, the cylindrical element 11 presents a second conduit 16 communicating with a tubular element 17, internally hollow at 18, having a free end part 19 which is arched (or inclined or bent, or otherwise forming an angle to the remaining part of the element 17, as in Figures 6-9). This part 19 supports a substantially discoidal cylindrical piece 20. With the cylindrical element 11 there is associated a usual valve member 110 of deformable lip type. Within the cylindrical piece 20 a channel 21 is present connected to the cavity 18 and opening into that free surface 22 of the discoidal piece 20 opposite the surface 23 with which the tubular element 17 is rigid. This latter can be integral with the discoidal piece 20, in which case the tubular element is a part separated from the cylindrical element 11 and fixed to this latter in any known manner, for example by bonding, for example ultrasonic, or by gluing. In a first alternative, the tubular element 17 can be integral with the cylindrical element 11 (and hence with the body 2 of the breast-pump), in which case the discoidal piece 20 is physically separate from the element 17 and is made rigid with this latter in any known manner (for example by bonding). In a second alternative, the discoidal piece 20 and the tubular element 17 are in one piece and integral with the breast-pump body 2, as shown in Figures 8 and 9. The discoidal piece 20 carries, at least in correspondence with its lateral surface 27, a seal element 28 positioned in a seat 27A and arranged to seal against the wall 29 of a cavity associated with a lever member 30. The discoidal piece 20 and the element 17 (in particular its end part 19) hence define a piston 31 fixed with respect to a cylinder 32 defined within a portion 34 of the lever member. The cylinder 32 is hence movable relative to the fixed piston 32; this cylinder has in effect a useful volume 32A variable between zero with the lever member 30 in its rest position (Figures 3 and 8), to a maximum volume with the lever member 30 in its position of maximum excursion (Figure 5). The term "useful volume" means that volume able to contain the air drawn from the bell-shaped part 3 through the cavity 18 of the tubular element 17, this drawing action enabling vacuum to be created in the part 32 and milk to be extracted from the breast.

Specifically, the portion 34 is to a large extent hollow; its cavity 34A, defining the cylinder 32, presents an end aperture 37 facing the bell-shaped part 3. The piston 31 passes through this aperture on assembling the breast-pump mounting the lever member 30 on the breast-pump body 2. The cavity 34A terminates with a base 38, internal to said portion 34, on which the discoidal piece 20 rests when the breast-pump is in its rest position (Figures 3 and 8). Preferably, into this base there opens a conduit 40 on which there operates a known vacuum regulator member 41 able to regulate the "force" of the vacuum within the cylinder 32. This member comprises, in known manner, a knob 41 A, an adjustment pin 41 B and a holding rod 41 C. Advantageously, an annular element 43 can be disposed within the cavity 34A along its wail (Figure 2) by being projectingly inserted into a corresponding seat provided in said wall 42. This element 43 defines a limit stop for the movement of the discoidal piece 20 within the cylinder 32 and hence defines the maximum stroke of the piston 31. In this respect, it should be noted that the "useful volume" of the cylinder 32 (indicated by 32A in Figure 5) is variable on the basis of the position of the discoidal piece 20 within the cavity 34A relative to its base 38.

The lever member 30 comprises a preferably arch-shaped handgrip 48 projecting from its portion 34 and positioned on one side of the bottle 7. The handgrip 48 is concave towards this bottle in the embodiment of Figures 1- 5, and on its inner wall 50 there rests one end 51 of a leaf spring 52 (or another equivalent elastic element); its other end 53 is inserted into a seat 54 provided in the body 2 of the breast-pump. The spring 52 defines a member for returning the lever member 30 into its rest position of Figure 3. The lever member 30 defines an operating element for the suction member or pump defined by the piston 31 and cylinder 32.

In the embodiment of Figures 6-9, the lever member 30 comprises a seat 71 for the end 72 of a leaf spring 73 arranged to rest on the bottle 7 and hence to elastically oppose the movement of the lever approaching this latter when the cylinder 32 is moved on the fixed piston 31. The end 72 comprises parallel fins 74 resting on a step 76 on the inside of the seat 71. In correspondence with these fins there project elements 77 arranged to penetrate into seats 78 in lugs 58 projecting substantially from a lower part (with reference to the figures) of the portion 34 of the lever member 30. These lugs present through holes 79 to receive pins 80 jutting in opposing directions from a support 81 projecting from the cap-shaped part 5. This engagement of holes 79 and pins 80 secures the lever member 30 to the breast-pump body 2. In contrast, in the embodiment of Figures 1-5, in correspondence with the opposing sides of the body 2 of the breast-pump, arms 58 provided with a projection 59 in proximity to their free end 60 project from the member 30 towards the body 2 to cooperate with a corresponding seat provided in the body 2, in order to secure to this latter the said member 30 and enable it to move about the coaxial hinges defined by the engagement between each projection 59 and its seat.

The use of the breast-pump of the invention is evident from the aforegoing description and will therefore not be described. On rotating the lever member 30, the cylinder 32 is moved relative to the piston 31 to draw air into the useful volume 32A and draw milk from the breast. When the member 30 returns to its rest position urged by the spring 52 or 73, the air returns to the cavity 18 in the part 17 and is discharged with the milk into the bottle 7. Finally, in the embodiment of Figures 6-9, on the breast-pump body 2 there is positioned a cover element 85 which snap-engages fixed elastic tangs 86 and 87 on said body.

By virtue of the invention, as the fixed piston and the cylinder are formed integrally with a part of the operating element of the suction member, there is no possibility of undesirable relative movements between the piston and cylinder arising with the passage of time as a result of their use, such as to compromise the operability of the breast-pump.

Moreover this latter is composed of a smaller number of parts than known breast-pumps, with obvious advantages in terms of cost and assembly time, and compactness.

Claims

1. A manual breast-pump (1) comprising a body (2) to be associated with a bottle (7) for collecting the miik, said body (2) presenting a bell-shaped part (3) to cooperate with a woman's breast, and a suction member or pump presenting a piston (31) inserted into a cylinder (32), said cylinder (32) and piston (31) being movable relative to each other, an operating element (30) for said suction member being provided movable relative to the body (2) of the breast-pump, characterised in that the piston (31) of the suction member being fixed and associated with the body (2) of the breast-pump, whereas the cylinder (32) is associated with said operating element (30) and is movable relative to the fixed piston (31) and to said body (2), characterised in that the piston (31) comprises a discoidal end part (20) relatively movable within the cylinder (32), the operating element (30) in which the cylinder (32) is provided being hinged to the breast-pump body (2).

2. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 1 , characterised in that the fixed piston (31) comprises an internally hollow (at 18) part (17, 19) supporting the discoidal end part (20), the cavity of said part communicating with a conveying element (11) for the milk collected in the bottle (7), said element (11) communicating with a cavity (3A) in the bell-shaped part (3) and supporting a valve member (110) of known type, said element (11) forming part of the body (2) of the breast-pump.

3. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the fixed piston (31) is in one piece with said conveying element (11).

4. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the internally hollow part (17) is separate from the milk conveying element (11) and is fixed to this latter.

5. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the milk conveying element (11) projects from a flat part (12) of a cap-shaped part (5) of the breast-pump body, with this part there being associated the bell-shaped part.

6. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the cavity (18) of the internally hollow part (17, 18) communicates with a conduit (21) provided within the discoidal end piece (20) and opening into that surface (22) of this latter which faces a variable useful volume (32A) of the movable cylinder (32).

7. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the internally hollow part (17) within the fixed piston (31) presents a bent end (19) carrying the discoidal end piece (20).

8. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the discoidal piece (20) presents a lateral surface (27) carrying a seal element (28) slidable along the wall of the cylinder (32).

9. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the cylinder (32) is provided within a cavity (34A) in a portion (34) of the operating element

(30), this cavity (34A) opening (at 37) to the outside of said portion (34), in it there being inserted the discoidal end piece (20), said cavity terminating with a base (38), the useful volume (32A) of the cylinder (32) being defined between said base and said discoidal piece (20).

10. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 9, characterised in that the useful volume (32A) of the cylinder (32) communicates with a vacuum regulator member (41) associated with the operating element (30).

11. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 9, characterised in that a limit stop member (43) for the movement of the discoidal piece (20) relative to the cylinder (32) is present in the cavity (34A) of the operating member (30) in which the cylinder (32) of the suction member is provided.

12. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the operating element (30) is coupled to the body (2) of the breast-pump by arms (58) projecting from said element and coupled to hinge elements (80) projecting from said body (2).

13. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 12, characterised in that said hinge elements comprise pins (80) projecting from opposing ends of a support jutting from the breast-pump body (2), said pins (80) cooperating with holes (7, 9) in said arms (58).

14. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the operating element (30) comprises a handgrip (48) to the side of the bottle (7), said operating element carrying return means (52) for maintaining the breast-pump in a rest position.

15. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 14, characterised in that the return means are a leaf spring (52, 73).

16. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 15, characterised in that the leaf spring (52) has a first end (51) cooperating with said handgrip (48) and a second end (53) inserted into a seat (54) in the body (2) of the breast-pump.

17. A breast-pump as claimed in claim 15, characterised in that the leaf spring (73) presents an end (72) inserted into a seat (71) of the lever member, said spring (73) resting externally on the bottle (7) for collecting the milk.