A breast shield for a breast pump for expressing human breast milk, comprising a funnel for applying to the human mother's breast and a connection part, wherein the funnel widens in the direction of the mother's breast and encloses at least one nipple and one areola surrounding the nipple of the mother's breast. The funnel comprises an end near to the breast, which forms a contact edge for contacting the mother's breast. The breast shield has a through-opening which extends from the end of the funnel near the breast up to the end of the connection part further from the breast, and which serves to apply a negative pressure to the mother's breast and to discharge expressed breast milk. The contact edge of the funnel is formed by a space curve that is not positioned in one plane, wherein the funnel has at least two planes of symmetry. The breast shield permits an application on the mother's breast that is optimally sealing and comfortable for the mother.

Embodiments of a breast pump shield are disclosed herein. According to various embodiments, the breast pump shield can include a body portion that has a breast engagement portion and a neck portion. The breast engagement portion can include a ring. The breast engagement portion can receive at least a portion of a breast of a user, and the neck portion can be configured to receive at least a portion of a nipple of the user and to receive milk from the breast. The breast pump shield also can include a suction chamber located in proximity to the neck portion, and a cover located at the ring of the body portion. The cover can include a support layer and a lubricant layer. The cover can provide at least part of a hermetic seal for the breast pump shield prior to use.

A breast pump includes a main body, a breast milk suctioning shield, and one or more air pumps. The breast milk suctioning shield is assembled in an accommodation space of the main body and detachably connected to the main body. A front end of the breast milk suctioning shield has a breast shielding portion, and a nipple passage extends from a rear end of a center portion of the breast shielding portion. One or more deformable members and a non-deformable supporting member are assembled with an annular connection portion located between the breast shielding portion and the nipple passage. The air pump has an intake port and an exhaust port. The intake port is controlled by a first valve controller to suction the nipple passage and generate a negative pressure, and the exhaust port is controlled by a second valve controller to inflate or deflate the deformable member.

A breast pump includes a housing including a first side and a second side. The first side and the second side define a cavity therebetween. The second side includes a concave surface defining a recess. The breast pump also includes a breast cup for engaging at least a portion of a breast including a nipple and an area surrounding the nipple. The breast cup is attached to the second side of the housing and positioned at least partly within the recess defined by the concave surface. The breast pump further includes a vacuum pump assembly, a container, a heater mounted to the housing, and a power source. The heater extends along the concave surface of the second side of the housing in thermal connection with the breast cup. The heater is configured to provide heat to the breast cup when the power source provides electrical current to the heater.

Disclosed herein are devices, systems, and methods for the expression and collection of breast milk. A device in accordance with embodiments comprises an actuatable assembly and a breast interface configured to engage a breast and fluidly seal thereagainst. The breast interface comprises a movable member disposed within at least a portion of the breast interface. The device further comprises a tensile element operatively coupling the actuatable assembly to the movable member. Actuation of the actuatable assembly applies a tensile force to the tensile element, and the tensile element transmits the tensile force to the movable member to move the movable member away from the breast, thereby applying negative pressure to the breast to express milk therefrom.

A suction pump, in particular a breast pump, comprises a bleed valve with a bleed opening, a bleed body which seals the bleed opening and an operating means for operating the bleed body. The bleed body may be operated such that upon opening the valve initially only a partial region of the bleed opening is released and subsequently a greater part thereof or the whole bleed opening is released. The suction pump provides a large functionality with the smallest size and, furthermore, is cheap to produce and easily assembled.

The present invention provides a breastshield for use in a breastpumping system for expressing milk, the breastshield being of such a construction that substantially limits the amount of air between the breast/nipple and the breastshield surrounding the breast/nipple, and most preferably virtually eliminates any air at least in the area of the breast and nipple. In some embodiments, any air in the breastpumping system is substantially eliminated. With the amount of air limited, the mechanism used for generating the pressure difference in the breastshield (e.g., vacuum or negative pressure), such as a diaphragm pump, does not need to do as much work. Less energy is required for the expression of milk, and thus the size of pump used can be decreased, thereby reducing the overall cost of the device.

Breast pump 2 includes breast pump main body 3 generating a negative pressure for pumping, hood 4 connected to the main body 3 and placed onto a breast, and buffer portion 7 mounted detachably to hood 4, and made of a material softer than a material of hood 4. Hood 4 includes flow path portion 41 connected to the main body 3 and through which breast milk extracted from the breast passes, and diameter expansion portion 42 having a diameter expanding from flow path portion 41 toward edge portion 43 on a side opposite to flow path portion 41. Buffer portion 7 includes bonding portion 71 fitted to edge portion 43, and sealing portion 72 provided on the side opposite to bonding portion 71 and comes into close contact with inner surface 421 of diameter expansion portion 42 between flow path portion 41 and edge portion 43.

A suction pump, in particular a breast pump, comprises a bleed valve with a bleed opening, a bleed body which seals the bleed opening and an operating means for operating the bleed body. The bleed body may be operated such that upon opening the valve initially only a partial region of the bleed opening is released and subsequently a greater part thereof or the whole bleed opening is released. The suction pump provides a large functionality with the smallest size and, furthermore, is cheap to produce and easily assembled.

A hands-free breast pump system is disclosed. A breast shield having an adhesive inner surface for adhering to a woman's breast is disclosed. The breast shield may be connected to an adapter for transferring a vacuum generated by a pump to the breast. The adapter also allows milk expressed from the breast to drain from the adapter to a container. In the alternative, the breast shield may form part of a breast shield adapter system which is connected to a conventional breast shield by a drain line so that a conventional breast pump system is used to supply a vacuum and to collect the milk.