Breastmilk handling apparatus

• US 9,241,596 B2
• Filed: 02/16/2009
• Issued: 01/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Medela Holding AG (Olle Larsson Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Medela Holding AG (Olle Larsson Holding AG)
• Inventors: Bauer, Ryan, Miller, Amanda, Solberg, Jill M.
• Primary Examiner(s): CAMPBELL, THOR S
• Application Number:
  US12/371,834
• Publication Number:
  US 20090208193A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,535 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 36/04 the materials being non-metallic
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 36/2433 with electrical heating means
• CPC Class Codes: A47J 39/003 with forced air circulation
• CPC Class Codes: A61J 9/001 with inner liners
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 25/02 Internal fittings of containers made by folding or erecting blanks made of paper B65D5/44
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/60 relating to nutrition control, e.g. diets

Abstract

The present invention relates to an infant feeding warming system useful to repeatedly and precisely warm breastmilk or formula for use in the NICU. The system in one form comprises a bedside unit that is attachable to an IV pole. The system may also comprise a centralized warming station with multiple chambers, wherein one chamber heats a bottle or syringe, and the remaining chambers are used for storage and/or refrigeration. The system will use a non-liquid heating system to heat feedings. A disposable liner may be used inside the chamber. The system may also contain heating algorithms that are based on a user inputting milk parameters such as volume and initial temperature.

Claims

1. An apparatus for conditioning a container of infant feed, comprising:

a device that conditions air;

a control to receive one or more user inputs and generate and execute instructions to carry out an air conditioning sequence based on the one or more user inputs;

a chamber, said chamber having an access opening through which a chamber interior can be accessed for placing the container of infant feed therein;

a conduit structure as part of said housing, said conduit structure conveying a conditioned airflow to an inlet into said chamber, then through said chamber and then out of said chamber through an outlet; and

a lid for said chamber access opening, said lid being openable to access said chamber interior, said lid further having a lid port through which said chamber interior can be accessed with said lid in a closed position substantially covering said access opening, said lid port being adapted to receive a feed container therethrough.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a removable liner insertable into said chamber.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said liner comprises a section that defines an access port through which a container may be inserted.

4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said liner comprises a section that defines an access port through which a feed container may be inserted.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said infant feed is a liquid to be fed to an infant.

6. An infant feeding warming apparatus, comprising:

a housing;

a heater as part of said housing;

a chamber defined within said housing, with an opening to a chamber interior;

a conduit structure as part of said housing, said conduit structure conveying an airflow for heating by said heater to an inlet into said chamber, then through said chamber and then out of said chamber through an outlet;

a device moving said airflow through said conduit structure and chamber; and

a lid for said chamber, said lid closing said chamber in use, and being openable to access said chamber interior for placing a container for warming therein, wherein said lid has a port through which said chamber interior can be accessed with said lid in a closed position over said opening, said lid port being adapted to receive a feed container therethrough;

wherein said conduit structure is formed from pathways extending through the lid and the housing.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said container has one or more sides, a top and a bottom, said chamber interior having one or more sides defining a vertical part of said chamber and said chamber being sized to receive such a container therein with said container side or sides spaced from said chamber interior side or sides, such that airflow through said chamber interior can pass around the side or sides of said container to thereby provide a moving air plenum around said container.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, further including a removable liner, wherein said liner is emplaceable in said chamber and receives airflow from said inlet and communicates with said outlet, wherein said container is located within said liner when said liner is emplaced in said chamber such that said airflow moves through said liner.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said container contains infant feed and has one or more sides, a top and a bottom, said liner having one or more sides defining a vertical part of said liner and said liner being sized to receive such a container therein with said container side or sides spaced from said liner side or sides, such that airflow through said liner can pass around the side or sides of said container to thereby provide a moving air plenum around said container.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein said liner comprises a section that cooperates with said lid to close said chamber opening.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein said liner section defines a port through which said liner can be accessed and a container may be inserted, even when said lid is closed, to place at least a portion of said container into said liner.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said infant feed is a liquid to be fed to an infant.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a mechanism to attach and detach said housing to a pole.

14. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said airflow recirculates through said conduit structure, returning to said heater.

15. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said lid is attached to said housing with a hinge, and wherein said lid rotates about said hinge so as to cover said opening in a closed position, and leave said opening exposed to ambient air in an open position.

16. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said port has a flexible closure which can be pushed through and conforms to the sides of said container placed into said flexible closure.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein said container is held by said flexible closure with part of said container extending into said chamber interior, such that a liquid containing portion of said container is inside said chamber.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein said port is a sphincter-like member.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said port can accommodate a range of diameters of containers.

20. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said airflow follows a circuitous path through said chamber interior.

21. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said liner is disposable.

22. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said liner is reusable.

23. The apparatus of claim 8, further including a device for detecting whether a liner has been emplaced within said chamber.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said device for detecting comprises an infrared sensor and a portion of said liner that aligns with said sensor when emplaced in said chamber to cooperate with said sensor to indicate placement of said liner.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein said portion of said liner is infrared opaque.

26. An apparatus for conditioning a container of infant feed, comprising:

a device that conditions air;

an airflow communicating with said conditioning device and conditioned thereby;

a chamber, said chamber having an access opening through which a chamber interior can be accessed for placing the container of infant feed therein;

a conduit structure as part of said housing, said conduit structure conveying a conditioned airflow to an inlet into said chamber, then through said chamber and then out of said chamber through an outlet; and

a control to receive one or more user inputs and generate and execute instructions to carry out an warming sequence based on the one or more user inputs, wherein the warming sequence includes conditioning air and circulating said conditioned air via blowing directly through said chamber to warm said liquid feed to a desired temperature.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising a removable liner insertable into said chamber.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said liner comprises a section that defines a port.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said liner comprises a section that defines a port through which a container may be inserted.

30. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein said infant feed is a liquid to be fed to an infant.

31. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising a lid for said chamber access opening, said lid being openable to access said chamber interior, said lid further having a lid port through which said chamber interior can be accessed with said lid in a closed position over said access opening, said lid port being adapted to receive a container therethrough.

32. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising a port adapted to receive said container therein so as to pass said container into said chamber interior.

33. An infant feeding system for conditioning an airflow, comprising:

a heating mechanism that raises said airflow temperature until said airflow temperature reaches a first set temperature;

a cooling mechanism that decreases said airflow temperature; and

a control to execute instructions to operate both the heating mechanism and the cooling mechanism to maintain said airflow temperature at said first set temperature;

or to operate the cooling mechanism alone to decrease said airflow temperature below said first set temperature,

wherein the system is configured to heat or cool infant feed directly via the airflow.

34. An apparatus for conditioning a container of

infant feed, comprising:

a conditioning device comprising a controller that executes instructions to condition air;

a first airflow communicating with said conditioning device and is conditioned thereby;

a chamber, said chamber having an access opening through which a chamber interior can be accessed for placing the container of infant feed therein;

a conduit structure conveying said first conditioned airflow to an inlet into said chamber, then through said chamber and then out of said chamber through an outlet;

a lid for said chamber access opening, said lid being openable to access said chamber interior; and

a second airflow, said second airflow being at a temperature different than that of said first airflow, said second airflow in use being mixable with said first airflow as desired in order to modify the temperature of said first airflow, wherein said second airflow is drawn from ambient air through a space adjacent said lid when said lid is closed.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein said space is between said lid and said chamber access opening when said lid is closed.

36. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said second airflow is at a temperature lower than said first airflow.

37. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said second airflow is at a temperature lower than said first airflow.

38. The apparatus of claim 34, further including a liner which is received within said chamber, said liner having a part cooperating with said lid and said chamber access opening to close said access opening.

39. The apparatus of claim 34, further including a liner which is received within said chamber, said liner having a part cooperating with said lid and said chamber access opening to close said access opening except for a space between said lid and said liner part when said lid is closed, and wherein said second airflow is drawn from ambient air through said space.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein said liner defines an interior, with a rim member defining a liner opening, said rim member having a first portion in a first plane, and a widened second portion extending from said first portion in a second plane from said rim member;

and

a port formed in said widened second portion of said rim member, said port adapted to allow an elongated cylindrical container to be passed at least partially therethrough and into said liner interior.

41. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein said liner defines an interior, with a rim member defining a liner opening, said rim member having a widened portion with a port formed in said widened portion of said rim member, said port adapted to allow an elongated cylindrical container to be passed at least partially therethrough and into said liner interior.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein said widened portion is in a first plane, with another portion of said rim member in a second plane.

43. The apparatus of claim 34, further including a liner which is received within said chamber, said liner having a rim member cooperating with said lid and said chamber access opening to close at least part of said access opening.

44. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein said liner defines an interior, said rim member defining a liner opening, said rim member having a widened portion with a port formed in said widened portion of said rim member, said port adapted to allow an elongated cylindrical container to be passed at least partially therethrough and into said liner interior.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein said liner rim member has a first portion in a first plane, and said widened second portion is connected to said first portion capable of being placed in a second plane different from said first plane.

46. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein said first and second portions are connected by a living hinge.

47. The apparatus of claim 45, further comprising a space between said lid and said rim member when said lid is closed, and wherein said second airflow is drawn from ambient air.

48. The apparatus of claim 47 wherein said second airflow is at a temperature lower than said first airflow.