The present invention is generally related to breast pumps for extracting milk from the breasts of human females. More particularly, the present invention is related to a funnel for such a pump that is designed to massage the breast in order to promote the flow of milk.
For various reasons, a lactating woman may wish to extract and collect her milk, and pumps designed for that purpose are well known. Such a pump typically comprises a cup or funnel that fits over the breast and a neck into which the nipple fits. The other end of the neck is connected to an intake of the actual pumping mechanism, which may be electric or hand operated. If the pump is hand operated, it maybe a reciprocating pump having a trigger that is repeatedly squeezed to alternately suck milk from the breast and discharge it into a receiving bottle.
However, the human breast is adapted to respond optimally to suckling by a human baby, whose lips tend to move rhythmically as the baby suckles, massaging the breast. This massaging action stimulates the discharge of milk. Merely attempting to suck milk from the nipple is much less effective, because the breast does not respond well.
In the commercial milking of cattle, it has for many years been normal practice for the teat cups of a milking machine to have flexible liners. By cyclically changing the pressure in the space outside the liner, the milking machine massages the teats, encouraging the flow of milk. However, such machines, which typical rely on a separate pulsed air line for the massaging, are not usually very practical for use on human beings.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,885,246 describes a flexible insert for the funnel of a breast pump. The insert has a number of recesses in its outer surface, forming chambers between the insert and the funnel, which are in communication with the neck of the funnel, and are separated from the breast by thin bottom walls. Thus, as the suction delivered by the pump varies cyclically, the chambers expand and contract, and the bottom walls of the recesses move in and out, massaging the breast. However, the insert is a complex and expensive molding, and may be prone to fatigue because the thin bottom walls of the chambers are in continual movement. In addition the chambers, into which milk can penetrate, may present a hygiene problem if the insert is not removed and carefully cleaned after use, but if removed from the funnel the insert is very vulnerable to damage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,406 describes a similar construction to the ""246patent in which the chambers are vented to the exterior. This device apparently relies on the pump suction causing a cyclically varying vacuum in the space between the funnel insert and the breast.
The present invention is directed to a funnel for a breast pump, and a breast pump including such a funnel, that can effectively massage the breast.
The invention provides a funnel for a breast pump that fits over the nipple, and that has several fingers extending from the outer edge of the funnel and positioned to massage the breast and to stimulate the release of milk from the breast ducts.
The fingers need not all be of the same length. Preferably, they are of two different lengths alternately, to massage different parts of the breast. The fingers may be generally spoon-shaped, with the bowl of the xe2x80x9cspoonxe2x80x9d forming the tip of the finger, and the convex surface of the bowl contacting the breast. The tips of the fingers may be formed with small bumps to enhance the stimulating effect of the massage.
The inside of the funnel, including the fingers, maybe overmolded with a soft rubber material. Instead, a separate rubber insert may be provided, which should cover only the neck and the inner part of the funnel, and should stop short of the finger tips.