WO2005084729A1

WO2005084729A1 - Breast cup insert

Info

Publication number: WO2005084729A1
Application number: PCT/CH2005/000117
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael Dettling; Richard Röllin
Original assignee: Medela Holding Ag
Priority date: 2004-03-04
Filing date: 2005-03-02
Publication date: 2005-09-15

Abstract

The invention relates to a breast cup insert (E) which has a substantially truncated base body (5) having a front and a rear opening (50, 51) and an interposed membrane wall (52). The front opening (50) has a larger diameter than the rear opening (51). A first collar (6) extending around the front opening (50) sealingly fastens the insert (E) on the breast cup. A second collar (7) extending around the rear opening (51) of the base body (5) sealingly rests against the breast cup (B). The double sealing allows for an optimum massaging effect, brought about by the membrane wall (52) which moves inward when the pressure is reduced. The breast cup insert (E) is easy to produce and easy to clean.

Description

Breastshield use

Technical field

The invention relates to a breast shield insert for a breast pump according to the preamble of claim 1.

State of the art

Breast shield inserts of this type are used in breast pumps in order to increase the comfort during the pumping out of breast milk. They are used to adapt the rigid breast shield to the different breast sizes and shapes of the female breast. They also increase breast milk performance through improved breast stimulation.

Such a breast shield insert is known for example from WO 00/10625. It has an annular collar, which can be put over a front edge of the breast shield opening for fastening the breast shield insert. At the other rear end it has a tubular socket which projects into the socket of the breast shield insert. The breast shield insert has zones with thinned wall thicknesses, which deform according to the cyclically generated vacuum and thus stimulate the breast. The individual thinned zones are connected with each other and with the rear end protruding into the neck of the breast shield via channels.

US 2003/0149398 proposes a breast shield insert which extends over the entire length of the breast shield. He points to both his front as at its rear end on an annular collar, which can be put over the front or rear edge of the breast shield.

US-A-4'799'922 discloses a breast shield insert with a frusto-conical base body and a finger part with milk through openings formed thereon. The finger part protrudes into the neck of the breast shield and is supposed to seal against its inner wall. A cavity is present between the inner funnel wall of the breast shield and the outer funnel wall of the breast shield insert, which has atmospheric pressure. If a vacuum is applied to the breast shield, the funnel wall of the insert is sucked inwards and presses against the areola of the mother's breast. The finger part is dimensionally rigid to avoid contact with the nipple. This breast shield insert can guarantee pleasant and effective stimulation of the areoles. However, it is disadvantageous that it is relatively complex to manufacture because of its dimensionally stable finger part. In addition, the finger part is difficult to clean.

Presentation of the invention

It is an object of the invention to provide a breast shield insert for a breast shield of a breast pump, which ensures optimal stimulation of the areoles of the mother's breast and which is nevertheless easy to manufacture and easy to clean.

This task is solved by a breast shield insert with the features of the patent claim

1.

The breast shield insert according to the invention has an essentially frustoconical base body with a front and a rear opening and a membrane wall arranged between them. The front opening has a larger diameter than the rear opening. A first collar, which runs around the front opening, is used for the sealing attachment of the insert to the Breast cup. A second collar, which runs around the rear opening of the base body, is used for sealing contact with the breast shield.

As a result, a double seal is present, which creates a tight cavity delimited by the membrane wall and a funnel wall of the breast shield. Since this cavity has atmospheric pressure, the membrane wall expands in the direction of the breast with increasing negative pressure in accordance with the pump cycle of the breast pump and retracts back into its starting position when the negative pressure decreases. The breast is massaged and stimulated optimally.

Since the breast shield insert essentially consists only of the frustoconical base body and the first and second collars formed thereon, it can be produced relatively simply and inexpensively. It is also easy to clean thanks to its large openings.

It is also advantageous that the breast is retained during the pumping process thanks to the expanding cavity in the funnel of the breast shield. This prevents the mother's breast from being pulled too far into the breast shield and the milk ducts being compressed too much as a result.

Another advantage is that the dead volume in the breast shield is minimized so that the pumping power of the breast pump can be used optimally.

Further advantageous embodiments emerge from the dependent patent claims.

Brief description of the drawings

The subject matter of the invention is explained below on the basis of preferred exemplary embodiments which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Show it: 1 shows a longitudinal section through a breast shield with an inserted breast shield insert according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the breast shield insert according to the invention in a first embodiment;

Figure 3 is a view of the breast shield insert according to Figure 2 from behind;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the breast shield insert according to the invention in a second embodiment and

Figure 5 shows a longitudinal section through part of the breast shield insert according to Figure 4 in an enlarged view.

Ways of Carrying Out the Invention

FIG. 1 shows a typical breast shield B as used with manually and automatically operated breast pumps. It has a truncated cone-shaped hood funnel 1, which is connected to a first connection 3 and a second connection 4, for example via a tubular extension 2 or connecting piece. The first connection 3 is used to connect to a pump line of the breast pump, which are not shown here. A milk bottle M or some other suitable milk container can be attached to the second connection 4. The funnel 1 has at its open end facing away from the attachment 2 a circumferential fastening flange 10.

The breast shield B is only shown here as an example. The breast shield inserts E according to the invention described below can also be used with differently shaped breast shields. FIG. 1 shows a first exemplary embodiment of the breast shield insert E according to the invention in the position of use. It can also be seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. The breast shield insert E is made from a suitable soft and elastically deformable material, for example from a plastic or another rubber-elastic material. The insert E is preferably formed in one piece.

It has an essentially or here an exclusively frustoconical base body 5, which has a front opening 50 and a rear opening 51. The front of the mother's breast is here, the rear of the neck 2 or the breast pump. The front opening 50 has a larger diameter than the rear opening 51. The funnel wall of the base body 5, which is formed between these two openings 50, 51, forms a membrane wall 52.

The larger opening 50 is surrounded by a circumferential first collar 6, which has an outer and an inner, parallel to each other and also at least partially circumferential ribs 60, 61. In use, this first collar 6 is slipped over the front edge of the hood funnel 1, the fastening flange 10 being received between the two ribs 60, 61. A first seal between breast shield insert E and breast shield B is thereby obtained.

The smaller rear opening 51 of the breast shield insert E is surrounded by a second circumferential collar 7. This second collar 7 lies in the rear end region on the inner wall of the hood funnel 1. It preferably has a circumferential free edge 70 which is directed towards the membrane wall 52. Usually, the second collar 7 is already in sealing contact with the inner wall of the hood funnel without additional aids, so that a second sealing zone is created. However, it is also possible that the second sealing zone is only obtained in the position of use, ie when the breast shield with the breast shield insert is placed on a mother's breast and / or when the breast pump is started up and a vacuum is applied. The inner collar 7 is preferably located at least approximately completely in the region of the inner wall of the hood funnel 1 and does not protrude into the socket 2. The dimensions of the breast shield insert E are therefore chosen in accordance with the shape of the hood funnel 1.

Between the two sealing zones there is a cavity 8 which has atmospheric pressure. If a negative pressure is generated in the breast shield B, the membrane wall 52 thus expands into the interior of the funnel and massages the breast located therein, or rather its areoles. The movement of the membrane wall 52 is shown in FIG. 1 with arrows.

In another embodiment, it is also possible to pressurize the cavity 8 by, for example, pressing compressed air into the cavity 8 during the pumping process via an opening (not shown here) in the hood funnel 1.

In the embodiment shown here, the second collar 7 preferably has at least approximately the same wall thickness as the membrane wall 52. However, it can, for example, also be made thinner than this.

The first collar 6 is preferably designed to be more dimensionally rigid than the membrane wall 52 or as the second collar 7. This is most easily achieved by having a larger wall thickness.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the breast shield insert E according to the invention. It differs essentially from that described above in that the membrane wall 52 has massage zones 53 in the form of areas with thinned wall thickness. As shown in FIG. 4, these are preferably arranged radially around the rear opening 51 in the region thereof.

The membrane wall 52 preferably has a flat surface on its surface facing the breast and the indentations for generating the massages. Zones are embedded on the inner surface facing the hood funnel 1, as can be seen in FIG. 5.

If the massage zones 53 reach into the area of the second collar 7 or if the second collar 7 has a relatively small wall thickness, reinforcing ribs 71 are preferably present in the bending area of the collar 7, which ribs 71 bear against the hood funnel 1 in a defined manner and press against them guarantee. The reinforcing ribs 71 are located on the surface of the insert E facing away from the hood funnel 1.

With its double seal, the breast shield insert according to the invention ensures an optimal massage of the areoles without producing individual painful pressure points on the mother's breast. Nevertheless, it is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and can be easily inserted into the breast shield.

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LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

M milk bottle

B Breast shield E Breast shield insert

1 hood funnel

10 mounting flange

2 Tubular extension 3 First connection

4 Second connection

5 basic bodies

50 Front opening

51 Rear opening 52 Membrane wall

53 massage zone

6 First collar

60 outer rib

61 inner rib 7 second collar

70 rand

71 reinforcing ribs 8 cavity

Claims

claims

1. Breast shield insert (E) for a breast shield (B) of a breast pump, the breast shield insert having a substantially frustoconical base body (5) with a front and a rear opening (50, 51) and a membrane wall (52) arranged between them the front opening (50) has a larger diameter than the rear opening (51) and the breast shield insert (E) has a first collar (6) surrounding the larger opening (50) for sealingly fastening the breast shield insert (E) to the breast shield (B) characterized in that the base body (5) has at its rear opening (51) a circumferential second collar (7) for sealing engagement with the breast shield (B).

2. Breast shield insert according to claim 1, wherein the second collar (7) has a circumferential free edge (70) which is directed towards the membrane wall (52) and towards a wall of the breast shield (B).

3. Breast shield insert according to one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the second collar (7) has at least approximately the same wall thickness as the membrane wall (6).

4. Breast shield insert according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second collar (7) is designed to bear against a hood funnel (1) of the breast shield (B).

5. Breast shield insert according to one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the membrane wall (52) has massage zones (53) with thinned wall thickness.

6. Breast shield insert according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first collar (6) has two parallel ribs (60, 61) for receiving a mounting flange (10) of the breast shield (B).

7. breast shield insert according to one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first collar (6) is dimensionally more rigid than the membrane wall (52).

8. Breast shield insert according to one of claims 1 to 7, wherein it is formed in one piece.

9. breast shield insert according to one of claims 1 to 8, wherein it is made of an elastically deformable material, in particular of a plastic or a rubber-elastic material.

10. Breast shield insert according to one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the second collar (7) is provided with reinforcing ribs (71).