Patent Application
20210071770
The present disclosure relates to valves generally, and in particular to valve apparatus or assemblies for breast pump fluid containers.
As more women become aware that breastfeeding is the best source of nutrition for a baby, and also offers health benefits to the nursing mother, the need is increasing for breast pump solutions that are user-friendly, quiet, discrete and versatile for use by a nursing mother in various situations. This is particularly true for the working mother, who is away from the home for eight to ten hours or more and needs to pump breast milk in order to have it available for her baby, but it is also a requirement for many other situations where the mother is away from the privacy of the home for an extended period, such as during shopping, going out to dinner or other activities.
Although a variety of breast pumps are available, a number are awkward and cumbersome, requiring many parts and assemblies and being difficult to transport. Hand pump varieties that are manually driven are onerous to use and can be inconvenient to use. Some powered breast pumps require an AC power source to plug into during use. Some systems are battery driven, but draw down the battery power fairly rapidly as the motorized pump continuously operates to maintain suction during the milk extraction process. Certain other of the breast pumps available are lacking in convenient connecting and disconnection from storage containers. The storage containers can be difficult to package, install, remove and store thereby creating a barrier to effective use. There is thus a continuing need for conveniently usable and effective approach to attachable and replaceable valve apparatus and assemblies for portable wearable breast pump.
The present disclosure addresses these and other needs.
Briefly and in general terms, the present disclosure is directed towards a leash valve apparatus or assembly. In a preferred embodiment, the leash valve is configured to be replaceably attached to a breast pump system component.
In one aspect, the valve apparatus includes a valve portion and a leash portion extending from the valve portion. The valve portion includes a base and a generally cylindrical portion extending from the base. Configured within the cylindrical portion is a valve. Extending laterally from the base is the leash portion, the leash portion terminating with a loop or hoop.
Various types of valves can be incorporated into the valve apparatus. In a preferred embodiment, the valve is an umbrella valve. The valve can be integrally formed in the valve apparatus or can be a component part inserted or attached to the base. In alternative approaches, the valve can define a duckbill valve or a double tailed umbrella valve, or other means or structure that accomplishes a seal. Such structures can also be integrally formed or a component part of an assembly.
In one or more embodiments, the valve assembly includes a separate air path configured to facilitate detection by the system of the presence of a container assembly. The valve assembly is arranged such that the air path is occluded when a container assembly is connected to the breast pump system.
These and other features of the disclosure will become apparent to those persons skilled in the art upon reading the details of the systems and methods as more fully described below.
Before the present systems and methods are described, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particular embodiments described, as such may, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting, since the scope of the present disclosure will be limited only by the appended claims.
Where a range of values is provided, it is understood that each intervening value, to the tenth of the unit of the lower limit unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, between the upper and lower limits of that range is also specifically disclosed. Each smaller range between any stated value or intervening value in a stated range and any other stated or intervening value in that stated range is encompassed within the disclosure. The upper and lower limits of these smaller ranges may independently be included or excluded in the range, and each range where either, neither or both limits are included in the smaller ranges is also encompassed within the disclosure, subject to any specifically excluded limit in the stated range. Where the stated range includes one or both of the limits, ranges excluding either or both of those included limits are also included in the disclosure.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present disclosure, the preferred methods and materials are now described.
It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a sensor” includes a plurality of such sensors and reference to “the system” includes reference to one or more systems and equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art, and so forth.
With reference to
With reference to
Turning to
Various types of valves can be incorporated into the valve apparatus. In a preferred embodiment, the valve is a duckbill valve. The valve can be integrally formed in the valve apparatus or can be a component part inserted or attached to the base. In alternative approaches (See
In one aspect, the valve apparatus or assembly 100 can be made from flexible material such as TPE or silicone. In embodiments including an umbrella valve 250, the body of the valve 100 can be made from both flexible material and/or a stiff material (PP, PE, LDPE), and the umbrella valve portion 250, 252 can be formed from silicone.
With reference to
As with the previous embodiment, the loop or hoop 314 is configured in a replaceable manner about a portion of the flextube. The cylindrical portion 308 of the valve apparatus or assembly 300 is sized and shaped to be securely engaged, and removed from, an opening to the flextube. The valve 310 thus provides a sealed engagement with the flextube so that a vacuum can be created prior to pushing fluid through the valve 100 and into a fluid container also attached to the valve 300. As stated, this approach removes valve structure from the fluid container thus reducing the cost and simplifying manufacture of the fluid container, and also permits the user to remove air from the fluid container before storage.
Turning now to
Accordingly, various approaches to valve apparatus or assemblies are presented. The disclosed embodiments are configured to provide an effective approach to sealing components of a breast pump system and to facilitate ease of use and manufacture.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to the specific embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made, and equivalents may be substituted without departing from the true spirit and scope of the disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation, material, composition of matter, process, process step or steps, to the objective, spirit and scope of the present disclosure. All such modifications are intended to be within the scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62670730 | May 2018 | US | |
| 62789013 | Jan 2019 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/US19/31643 | May 2019 | US |
| Child | 17094900 | US |
