Patent Application
20190046103
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The disclosure and prior art relates to measuring devices and more particularly pertains to a new measuring device for tracking a fluid volume of breast milk consumed by an infant.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a shield that is selectively worn on a breast. The shield has a nipple thereon and the nipple on the shield is aligned with a nipple on the breast. The nipple on the shield is perforated to pass breast milk therethrough. A measuring unit is coupled to the shield. The measuring unit is in fluid communication with the nipple on the shield to measure a flow of the breast milk through the nipple on the shield. The measuring unit is in electrical communication with an electronic device. In this way the flow of breast milk by volume is communicated to the electronic device for tracking the flow of breast milk by volume.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The shield 12 has a first surface 18, a second surface 20 and a peripheral edge 22 extending therebetween. Each of the first 18 and second 20 surfaces is concavely arcuate between the peripheral edge 22 to conform to a curve of the breast 14. The peripheral edge 22 has a bottom side 24 and a top side 26. The bottom side 24 is concavely arcuate with respect to the top side 26 to conform the curve of the breast 14. The bottom side 24 has a pair of intersections 28 with the top side 26 and the top side 26 undulates between each of the intersections 28.
The first 18 and second 20 surfaces extend forwardly from the shield 12 to define the nipple 16. Moreover, the nipple 16 is centrally positioned on the shield 12. The nipple 16 has a distal end 30 with respect to the shield 12. The distal end 30 has a plurality of openings 32 extending therethrough to pass the breast milk therethrough. A pair of straps 34 is each coupled to the peripheral edge 22 of the shield 12. Each of the straps 34 is matable to each other and each of the straps is selectively wrapped around the user. In this way the shield 12 is retained on the breast 14.
A measuring unit 36 is coupled to the shield 12 and the measuring unit 36 is in fluid communication with the nipple 16 on the shield 12. The measuring unit 36 measures a flow of the breast milk through the nipple 16 on the shield 12. In this way a mother may track how much milk the infant has consumed. The measuring unit 36 is in electrical communication with an electronic device 38 such as a smart phone or the like. The flow of breast milk by volume may be communicated to the electronic device 38 for tracking the flow of breast milk by volume.
The measuring unit 36 comprises a flow meter 40 that is coupled to the first surface 18 of the shield 12. The flow meter 40 is positioned in the nipple 16. Thus, the flow meter 40 is in fluid communication with the breast milk flowing through the nipple 16 on the shield 12. The flow meter 40 may be an electronic fluid flow meter 40 or the like.
A housing 42 is provided that has a first wall 44. A conductor 46 is coupled between the housing 42 and the shield 12 and the conductor 46 is electrically coupled to the flow meter 40. A processor 48 is positioned within the housing 42 and the processor 48 is electrically coupled to the conductor 46. In this way the processor 48 is in electrical communication with the flow meter 40. The conductor 46 may be an insulated wire or the like.
A transceiver 50 is positioned within the housing 42 and the transceiver 50 is electrically coupled to the processor 48. The transceiver 50 is in wireless electrical communication with the electronic device 38. The transceiver 50 may be a radio frequency transceiver 50 or the like. Moreover, the transceiver 50 may employ a WPAN signal and Bluetooth communication protocols. The electronic device 38 may store a program or app for measuring the fluid volume.
A display 52 is coupled to the first wall 44 of the housing 42 and the display 52 displays indicia 54. The indicia 54 comprise numbers corresponding to a volume in fluid ounces with respect to the flow of breast milk. The display 52 is electrically coupled to the processor 48 and the display 52 may be an LED display or the like.
A power supply 56 is removably positioned within the housing 42 and the power supply 56 is electrically coupled to the processor 48. The power supply 56 comprises at least one battery 58. A battery cover 60 is removably coupled to the housing 42 and the power supply 56 is positioned beneath the battery cover 60.
In use, the shield 12 is worn on the breast 14 such that the nipple 16 on the breast 14 is aligned with the nipple 16 on the shield 12. The transceiver 50 is selectively synched with the electronic device 38 to track the flow of breast milk flowing through the nipple 16 on the shield 12. The infant suckles on the nipple 16 on the shield 12 to consume the breast milk. The flow meter 40 measures the flow of breast milk through the nipple 16 on the shield 12. The display 52 on the housing 42 displays the fluid volume of breast milk that has been consumed. Thus, the mother can track how much breast milk the infant has consumed. In this way the mother can follow a doctor's advice with respect to feeding the infant. Additionally, the fluid volume of the breast milk may be viewed on the electronic device 38.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
