Patent ID: 11904077
Assignee: MEDELA HOLDING AG
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 42:
43. A method for actuating a breastpump for expressing human breastmilk, wherein the breastpump comprises a breast shield with an interior for receiving a mother's breast and a pump chamber, wherein a cyclically changing negative pressure is applied to the interior by means of the pump chamber,
wherein, in a first pump phase, the cyclically changing negative pressure is applied to the interior in order to express the breastmilk from the mother's breast, wherein the interior is filled with the expressed breastmilk without the expressed breastmilk flowing out of the interior,
wherein, in a second pump phase, the expressed breastmilk flows from the interior into the pump chamber and the pump chamber is filled with the expressed breastmilk,
wherein, in a third pump phase, the expressed breastmilk flows from the pump chamber into a milk collection container, with the interior and the pump chamber remaining filled with the expressed breastmilk,
wherein a change from the first pump phase to the second pump phase is implemented by virtue of a fill level of the expressed breastmilk reaching a first passage opening, which leads from the interior to the pump chamber, as a result of which the expressed breastmilk flows from the interior into the pump chamber through the first passage opening,
wherein a change from the second pump phase to the third pump phase is implemented by virtue of a fill level of the expressed breastmilk reaching an outlet opening, which leads from the pump chamber to the milk collection container, as a result of which the expressed breastmilk flows from the pump chamber into the milk collection container through the outlet opening, and
wherein, in a fourth pump phase, the interior is drained and the expressed breastmilk contained therein is guided from the interior to the milk collection container through a second passage opening.