JPH01190364A - Pressure release structure of milking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the number of parts and to improve the assemblage, by making a valve, including a valve body, a collar and a lever, of a rubber-like elastic body, by fixing the valve body on a valve seat by elasticity of the collar and by elastically deforming the valve body by pressure of the lever to make an air aperture open. CONSTITUTION:When a lever 25 is pressed with a finger, a fulcrum 26 of a valve 21 comes in contact with a projection 27 of a joint 8, and a bending moment generates around the contact in the valve 21. Since the valve 21 is made of a rubber-like elastic body with high elasticity, the reaction of the projection 27 against the pressure of the lever 25 causes elastic elongation of a valve body 22, makes the diameter of the valve body 22 smaller and thus makes a clearance between the valve body 22 and an air aperture 20. An air passage connects to the outside via the clearance and thus the pressure in a cup 4 returns from the negative to the ordinary one; that is, the sucking power is extinguished and the cup 4 is easily removed from a mamma. When the pressure of the lever 25 is cleared, the valve body 22 is seated in the opening of the air aperture 20 to close it by the restoring force of a collar 24.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a breast pump for expressing breast milk from the breasts of a pregnant woman, and particularly to a pressure release mechanism for introducing atmospheric air and releasing suction force.

[Prior Art] Generally, this type of breast pump is provided with a pressure release mechanism that releases negative pressure to the atmosphere for purposes such as separating a wrapper that is attracted to a breast by negative pressure from the breast.

Conventional pressure release mechanisms of this type include an external air hole that is open at one end and opened to the outside in an air passage that communicates between the suction part, the sucking part, and the bottle, and this external air hole. A valve body provided to be able to sit on a valve seat formed at one end, a spring that urges this valve body toward the valve seat side, and a knob that supports the other end of this spring and is provided integrally with the valve body. have.

When you want to pull the breast pump's wrapper away from your breast at the end of milking or when you experience sudden pain in your breast, press the knob against the biasing force of the spring and move the valve body to the valve seat. It was only possible to separate the trumpet from the breast by leaving the breast, opening the air vents, releasing negative pressure to the atmosphere, and removing the suction force.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional pressure release mechanism, the valve body and the knob are integrally formed by connecting them by a shaft portion, and a spring is attached to the shaft portion. When assembling, the shaft with the valve body at one end is inserted into the outside air hole, the spring is loosely fitted onto the protrusion of the shaft, and then the spring is compressed. Since the knob must be fixed to the tip of the shaft in the
There are problems in that not only does it require a lot of assembly man-hours and is difficult to assemble, but it also requires a large number of parts and is uneconomical.

The present invention has been made in view of such conventional problems, and includes a valve body having a valve part, a cap part, and a lever part made of a rubber-like elastic material, and the elasticity of the cap part moves the valve part to the valve seat. The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems by allowing the valve body to be seated on the valve body and to open the external air hole by elastically deforming the valve body with the pressing force of the lever part.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a suction section that generates negative pressure, a hole-forming section that has a trumpet, and a bottle that stores expressed breast milk. In a breast pump in which a suction part, a hole-forming part, and a bottle are communicated with each other by a ventilation passage, an external air hole having one end opened in the ventilation passage and the other end opened to the outside is provided in the suction part or the hole-forming part, A valve body formed of a rubber-like elastic body is provided to pass through the outside air hole, and the valve body includes a valve portion that can be seated in the opening of the outside air hole, and this valve portion is urged toward the opening by elasticity. and a lever part provided integrally with the umbrella part and the valve part, and a convex part that causes elastic deformation of the valve body by input to the lever part is provided near the external air hole. It is characterized by the fact that

[Operation] Accordingly, in the present invention, when the lever part is pressed, the valve body made of a rubber-like elastic body swings about the part that contacts the convex part as a fulcrum, and the valve part is released due to the elastic deformation of the valve body. The outer stomata are opened by separating from the opening of the stomata. As a result, the atmosphere is introduced into the air passage through the outside air hole, and the negative pressure inside the hole-forming part changes to atmospheric pressure, so that the wrapper can be easily pulled away from the breast.

On the other hand, when the pressing force of the lever part is released, the valve part is seated in the opening part due to the restoring force due to the elasticity of the umbrella part, and the external air hole is closed.

[Example] Next, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 to 4 are enlarged views of the connecting member shown in FIG. 1.

First, to explain the configuration, l shown in Fig. 1 is the hole forming part, 2
is a suction part, and 3 is a bottle.

The hole-forming part 1 includes a trumpet 4 that opens laterally, and a trumpet 4 that is opened laterally.
The space inside the lid 5 and the space inside the wrapper 4 are connected through a communication port (not shown).
communicated by. A female thread (not shown) is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the lid body 5, and a male thread (not shown) that can be screwed into the female thread is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the potoruo 6. The bottle 3 is configured to be detachable.

The suction section 2 also includes a grip-operated manual suction pump 7 that generates negative pressure, and a connecting member 8 that connects the hole-forming section l. The structure of the grip-operated manual suction pump 7 is the same as that of the conventional one, and by squeezing the hollow rubber member lO having the exhaust valve 9 and then using the restoring force to suck the air inside and discharge it to the outside, It generates negative pressure.

As shown in enlarged detail in FIGS. 2 to 4, the connecting member 8 has a shape of approximately one quarter of a spherical shell, and has a hollow shaft portion 11 extending in the vertical direction in the center. There is. Hollow shaft part 1
The lower end of 1 projects downward from the floor surface 12, and by inserting and engaging the protrusion 11a into an engagement hole (not shown) provided in the center of the lid 5, the connecting member 8 is attached to the lid. It can be detachably attached to the body 5. llb is a circumferential groove into which an O-ring (not shown) is inserted to maintain airtightness with the engagement hole.

Further, on the outer peripheral surface of the connecting member 8, a protruding portion 14 having a hole 14a that protrudes upward and is continuous with the hole 13 of the hollow shaft portion 11 is provided.
This protrusion 14 and the grip-operated manual suction pump 7 are provided.
A flexible pipe 15 is used to connect the connecting portion 10a. Furthermore, a wall surface 1 is provided on the side of the connecting member 8.
6 is provided with a recessed portion 17 that reaches the hollow shaft portion 11, and a stopper 19 is provided on a bottom surface 18 within this recessed portion 17.

An outside air hole 20 whose one end communicates with the hole 13 is provided in a thick wall portion provided at the center of the upper portion of the wall surface 16 . The external air hole 20 has a conical shape with an outer diameter larger than the opening diameter on the hole 13 side, and the valve body 21 passes through the external air hole 20 .

The valve body 21 includes a valve part 22 that can be seated on the outer opening of the outside air hole 20, and a shaft part 23 that protrudes from the axial center of the valve part 22.
, an umbrella portion 24 formed at the tip of this shaft portion 23 , and a valve portion 2
It has a lever part 25 forming a part of a substantially spherical shell provided on the opposite side from the shaft part 23 of the valve part 22, and a fulcrum part 26 provided on both sides of the valve part 22, and these parts are made of soft plastic or soft rubber. It is integrally formed of a rubber-like elastic body with high adhesive gamma properties. A convex portion 27 is formed on the connecting member 8 facing each fulcrum portion 26 with a slight gap therebetween.

The length between the valve part 22 and the umbrella part 24 is such that the peripheral edge of the umbrella part 24 comes into contact with the inner circumferential surface of the hole 13 during assembly, and in that state, the elasticity of the umbrella part 24 allows the valve part 22 to be removed. It is set so as to press against the outer opening of the air hole 20 to close the outer air hole 20.

The hole-forming section 1 and the suction section 2 are communicated via the bottle 3, and ventilation is achieved through the space inside the wrapper, the space inside the bottle, the holes 13, 14a, and the holes in the pipe 15 that communicate them. A valve body 21 forming a passage and penetrating the outside air hole constitutes a pressure release mechanism.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 1, with the hole-forming part l, suction part 2, and bottle 3 connected, the wrapper 4 is applied to the breast, the hollow rubber member 10 of the grip-operated manual suction pump 7 is crushed, and then the grip is tightened. When released, the air inside the wrapper 4 is sucked through the ventilation path and exhausted to the outside through the exhaust valve 9. This results in
The inside of the wrapper 4 becomes in a negative pressure state, and the breast is sucked by the negative pressure, and the breast milk flows out. The spilled breast milk flows into the bottle 3 and is stored in the bottle 3.

In this case, the valve part 22 of the valve body 21 is connected to the outside air hole 20 due to the elasticity of the umbrella part 24 whose left and right sides are in pressure contact with the inner peripheral surface of the hole 13.
is seated in the outer opening of the Therefore, the air passage is kept airtight, and negative pressure is generated by the pumping action of the grip-operated manual suction pump 7.

During the above-mentioned milking, if a sudden pain is felt in the breast or if milking is completed, the lever portion 25 of the valve body 21, which is a pressure release mechanism, is pressed with a finger. Then, the valve body 21
The fulcrum portion 26 of the connecting member 8 comes into contact with the convex portion 27 of the connecting member 8, and a bending moment is generated in the valve body 21 around the convex portion 27.

At this time, the umbrella part 24 comes into contact with the inner opening of the outside air hole 20,
Since this acts as a resistance, there is no risk that the umbrella section 24 will escape from the outside air hole 20. On the other hand, since the valve body 21 is entirely made of a highly elastic rubber-like elastic material, the pressing force of the lever section 25 is reduced. The reaction force of the convex portion 27 that is received causes elastic deformation of the valve portion 22 on the extension side, and the diameter of the valve portion 22 becomes narrower and the outer air hole 2
A gap is created between the outer opening of 0 and the outer opening of 0. The air passage is communicated with the outside through this gap, and the atmosphere is introduced into the air passage through the gap.

As a result, the negative pressure within the wrapper 4 changes to normal pressure and the suction force due to the negative pressure disappears, so the wrapper 4 can be easily pulled away from the breast. Note that the S)-/P 19 is for preventing excessive pushing of the lever portion 25, and protrudes on the movement locus of the lever portion 25, and limits movement of the lever portion 25 beyond a predetermined amount.

After that, when the pressing force of the lever part 25 is removed, the valve body 21 is restored to its original shape by its own restoring force, and the elasticity of the umbrella part 24 when restoring causes the valve part 22 to close to the outside opening of the outside air hole 20. When the valve portion 22 is seated, the external air hole 20 is closed. Therefore, in this state, by applying the wrapper 4 to the breast and repeating the pumping action with the grip-operated manual suction pump 7, milk can be expressed again.

In addition, in the above embodiment, an example was explained in which a grip-operated manual suction pump 7 was used as the suction unit 2, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, an electric suction pump using an electric motor may be used. Can be applied. In addition, in the above embodiment, an example was explained in which a pressure opening/closing mechanism consisting of a valve body was provided in a connecting member constituting a part of the suction section, but the pressure opening/closing mechanism was provided with a pressure opening/closing mechanism consisting of a ramper or a hole forming section. Of course, the structure may be provided on the lid.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the valve body having the valve portion, the entire valve portion, and the lever portion is formed of a rubber-like elastic body, and the valve body is configured to penetrate into the outside air hole. Therefore,
Due to the elasticity of the umbrella part, the valve part can be seated in the opening to close the external air hole, and the reaction force of the convex part to the pressing force of the lever part can elastically deform the valve body and open the external air hole. The pressure release mechanism can be constructed with only one. Therefore, the number of parts can be significantly reduced compared to conventional pressure opening/closing mechanisms, which reduces costs by reducing the number of parts and improves ease of assembly by simplifying the structure. The effect is that a reliable and inexpensive pressure opening/closing mechanism can be provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line mm in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line TV--TV in FIG. 2. 1: Hole forming part 2: Suction part 3: Bottle 4 Niratuba 5: Lid body 7: Grip force operated manual suction pump 8: Connecting member 17: Recessed part 20: Outside air hole 21: Valve body 22: Valve part 24: Umbrella part 25 Nilever part 26: Fulcrum part 27: Convex part Patent applicant Vision Co., Ltd. agent Patent attorney Elementary 1) Osamu Parent Figure 1 Figure 2 H → Figure 4 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A suction section that generates negative pressure, a sucking section that has a trumpet, and a bottle that stores expressed breast milk, and ventilation is provided between the suction section, the sucking section, and the bottle. In a breast pump that communicates with the air passage through a passage, an external air hole having one end opened to the ventilation passage and the other end opened to the outside is provided in the suction part or the milk sucking part, and the external air hole is provided with a valve formed of a rubber-like elastic body. Provided through the body,
The valve body includes a valve portion that can be seated in the opening of the outside air hole, an umbrella portion that elastically urges the valve portion toward the opening, and a lever portion that is integrally provided with the umbrella portion and the valve portion. A pressure release mechanism for a breast pump, wherein a convex portion is provided near the external air hole to cause elastic deformation of the valve body by input to the lever portion. 2. The milking device according to claim 1, wherein the suction part has a connection member that is detachable from the milk suction part attached to the bottle, and the connection member is provided with the external air hole and the convex part. Pressure release mechanism of the vessel.