Vibratory waveform for breast pump
AssigneeLansinoh Laboratories, Inc.
InventorsRush Bartlett, Frank Tinghwa Wang
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method for facilitating milk extraction from a female breast may involve applying a breast contacting portion of a breast pump system to a breast, activating the breast pump system to administer multiple breast pumping cycles, and applying vibrations to the breast during at least a portion of each of the breast pumping cycles, using a vibration device. A vibration generating device may be a component of a breast pump system, an added attachment on a breast pump system or a separate component that works in conjunction with a breast pump system.
Claims12
A breast pump system for facilitating milk extraction from a female breast, the breast pump system comprising:
- a breast contacting portion;
- a vacuum pump portion, comprising:
- a motor;
- a diaphragm;
- a first one-way valve through which a volume of air is pulled from the breast contacting portion when the diaphragm is moved into a first position;
- and
- a second one-way valve through which a first portion of the volume of air is pushed outside of the breast pump system when the diaphragm is moved into a second position, wherein a second portion of the volume of air is pushed back into the breast contacting portion when the diaphragm is moved into the second position to cause a vibration in the breast pump system;
- wherein the second portion of the volume of air is pushed back into the breast contacting portion through an aperture or a cutout in the first one-way valve;
- and
- a controller coupled with the vacuum pump portion to control one or more parameters of the vacuum pump portion.
A vacuum motor device configured to be attached to a breast contacting unit for facilitating milk extraction from a female breast, the vacuum motor device comprising:
- a motor;
- a diaphragm;
- a first one-way valve through which a volume of air is pulled from the breast contacting unit when the diaphragm is moved into a first position;
- and
- a second one-way valve through which a first portion of the volume of air is pushed into an outer space when the diaphragm is moved into a second position, wherein a second portion of the volume of air is pushed back into the breast contacting unit when the diaphragm is moved into the second position to cause a vibration in the breast contacting unit;
- wherein the second portion of the volume of air is pushed back into the breast contacting unit through an aperture or a cutout in the first one-way valve.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.