Pumping breast milk
First Claim
1. A manual breast pump, comprising:
- a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber;
wherein the lever is repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the suction bell, and cyclically operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A breast pump provides multiple orientations of the pumping lever with respect to the breast shield. A breast pump includes a liner extending from the breast shield, through the suction chamber, and out of the suction chamber, which liner shields other components of the pump from contamination by the flow of milk through the pump during pumping operation. A breast pumping device includes a pumping lever for manually providing a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber and an external pumping source, connected to the suction bell, that the user can activate to provide a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber. A breast pump provides a smaller change in the grip width from when the lever is fully-extended to when the lever is fully-retracted, allowing more comfortable manual pumping.
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Citations
124 Claims
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1. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber;
wherein the lever is repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the suction bell, and cyclically operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
a) placing the breast shield of the breast pump of claim 1 against a human breast; and
b) cycling the pumping lever of the breast pump to express milk from the breast.
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33. A breast pump comprising
a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber; -
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber;
a valve attached to the suction bell that partially defines the suction chamber and is adapted to drain pumped milk from the suction chamber; and
a removable, flexible liner extending from within the breast shield, through the suction chamber, and out of the suction chamber through the valve, the liner defining a conduit for conducting pumped milk. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
a) placing the breast shield of the breast pump of claim 39 against a human breast; and
b) cycling the pumping lever of the breast pump to express milk from the breast into the liner conduit.
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47. A breast pumping device comprising
a suction belt defining an internal suction chamber; -
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber;
a hand-operable lever secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber; and
a secondary vacuum cycling pump in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber through a length of flexible tubing; and
a valve repositionable between a first position restricting hydraulic communication between the secondary vacuum cycling pump and the suction chamber, and a second position enabling hydraulic communication between the secondary vacuum cycling pump and the suction chamber, for switching between a hand pumping mode and a secondary vacuum cycling pumping mode of the device. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58)
a) placing the breast shield of the breast pumping device of claim 47 against a human breast;
b) positioning the valve at its second position; and
c) operating the secondary vacuum cycling pump to express milk from the breast.
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59. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber and a pumping chamber, the suction and pumping chambers being in hydraulic communication via an aperture through an internal suction bell wall, the aperture being positioned at an upper end of the suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber via a port disposed below the aperture; and
a valve forming the lower extent of the suction chamber, adapted to inhibit air flow into the suction chamber, and to drain pumped milk from the suction chamber;
wherein the pumping chamber forms a manually cyclable volume, such that when the pumping chamber is expanded a vacuum is created in the suction chamber, and when the pumping chamber is subsequently collapsed the vacuum is reduced; and
whereinthe aperture provides hydraulic communication between the pumping and suction chambers only through a tortuous air flow conduit requiring multiple flow direction changes between the pumping and suction chambers.
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60. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever attached to a fulcrum repositionably secured to a collar rotatably secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber;
wherein the lever is repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and manually operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum, the suction bell and collar together defining a positioning detent adapted to secure the lever in at least one of the multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66)
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67. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever attached to a fulcrum repositionably secured to a collar rotatably secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber, wherein tabs extending from the collar are lodged within an annular channel defined by the suction bell for restricting movement of the collar to a dialing rotation with respect to the suction bell;
wherein the lever is repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and manually operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum. - View Dependent Claims (68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74)
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75. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber;
a flexible diaphragm attached to a pumping bell removably attached to the suction bell, the diaphragm and pumping bell defining a pumping chamber in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber, the pumping and suction chambers being hydraulically connected by a tortuous conduit; and
a manually operable lever operably connected to the diaphragm for cyclical motion with respect to the suction bell to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber;
wherein the lever is repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and manually operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum. - View Dependent Claims (76, 77, 78, 79, 80)
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81. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber;
a flexible diaphragm attached to a pumping bell removably attached to the suction bell, threads on the pumping bell cooperating with threads on the suction bell to secure the pumping bell to the suction bell, the diaphragm and pumping bell defining a pumping chamber in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever operably connected to the diaphragm for cyclical motion with respect to the suction bell to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber;
wherein the lever is repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and manually operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum. - View Dependent Claims (82, 83, 84, 85, 86)
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87. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber, the lever being repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and manually operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum;
wherein the suction bell has an outer surface that defines a neck in the suction bell, on a side of the suction bell opposite the pumping lever, that defines, together with the pumping lever, a manual grip cyclically squeezable to operate the pump, the lever being shaped to conform to the neck in the suction bell. - View Dependent Claims (88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93)
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94. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber, the lever being repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and manually operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum;
wherein the suction bell has an outer surface that defines a recess, on a side of the suction bell opposite the pumping lever, that defines, together with the pumping lever, a manual grip cyclically squeezable to operate the pump, the manual grip having a grip width changing less than one inch as the lever moves from a fully extended position to a fully retracted position. - View Dependent Claims (95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101)
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102. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber, the lever being repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and manually operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum;
wherein multiple positioning detents are defined between the lever and the suction bell, each detent corresponding to one of the multiple orientations. - View Dependent Claims (103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108)
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109. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever attached to a fulcrum repositionably secured to the suction bell, the lever being configured for cyclical motion with respect to the suction bell to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber;
wherein the lever is repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and cyclically operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum. - View Dependent Claims (110, 111, 112, 113)
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114. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber, the lever being operably connected to a flexible diaphragm in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber;
wherein the lever is repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and cyclically operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum. - View Dependent Claims (115)
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116. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber, wherein suction chamber pressure decreases in each cycle with a forward motion of the lever, and increases in each cycle with a return motion of the lever;
wherein the lever is repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and cyclically operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum.
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117. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber;
a manually operable lever secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber; and
a valve attached to the suction bell and adapted to drain pumped milk from the suction chamber;
wherein the lever is repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and cyclically operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum. - View Dependent Claims (118)
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119. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber, the suction bell having an outer surface that defines a recess, on a side of the suction bell opposite the pumping lever, that defines, together with the pumping lever, a manual grip cyclically squeezable to operate the pump;
wherein the lever is repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and cyclically operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum. - View Dependent Claims (120, 121, 122, 123)
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124. A manual breast pump, comprising:
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a suction bell defining an internal suction chamber;
a breast shield extending from the suction bell and defining a receptacle for receiving a human breast, the receptacle being in hydraulic communication with the suction chamber; and
a manually operable lever secured to the suction bell for cyclical motion with respect thereto to generate a cyclical vacuum within the suction chamber;
wherein the lever is repositionable to multiple orientations with respect to the breast shield, and cyclically operable in each of the orientations to generate suction chamber vacuum, and wherein multiple positioning detents are defined between the lever and the suction bell, each detent corresponding to one of the multiple orientations.
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Specification