Patent Publication Number: US-2021162108-A1

Title: Carrying device for breast milk pump

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to carrying device. More particularly, it relates to a carrying device for a breast milk pump. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Breast milk is the milk produced by the breasts (or mammary glands) of a human female to feed a child. Milk is the primary source of nutrition for newborns before they are able to eat and digest other foods; older infants and toddlers may continue to be breastfed, in combination with other foods from six months of age when solid foods should be introduced. 
     The baby nursing from its own mother is the most common way of obtaining breast milk, but the milk can be pumped and then fed by baby bottle, cup and/or spoon, supplementation drip system, or nasogastric tube. In preterm children who do not have the ability to suck during their early days of life, avoiding bottles and tubes, and use of cups to feed expressed milk and other supplements is reported to result in better breastfeeding extent and duration subsequently. Breast milk can be supplied by a woman other than the baby&#39;s mother, either via donated pumped milk (generally from a milk bank or via informal milk donation), or when a woman nurses a child other than her own at her breast, a practice known as wet nursing. 
     When a mother wishes to express breast milk, often times breast milk pumps are utilized. The breast milk pumps area often bulky and for privacy reasons a mother may not be able to just carry a breast milk pump and express milk in public or other locations. Therefore, there is a need for a device to transport breast milk pumps easily and where the mother has both hands available. There is also a need, to express mother&#39;s breast milk while not in a convenient location and provide a mechanism to provide privacy to the mother while utilizing the breast milk pump. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an illustrated view of an exemplary carrying device. 
         FIG. 2  is an illustrated view of the exemplary carrying device shown in  FIG. 1  with the breast pump machine shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The phrases “in one embodiment,” “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” and the like are used repeatedly. Such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. The terms “comprising,” “having,” and “including” are synonymous, unless the context dictates otherwise. Such terms do not generally signify a closed list. 
     “Above,” “adhesive,” “affixing,” “any,” “around,” “both,” “bottom,” “by,” “comprising,” “consistent,” “customized,” “enclosing,” “friction,” “in,” “labeled,” “lower,” “magnetic,” “marked,” “new,” “nominal,” “not,” “of,” “other,” “outside,” “outwardly,” “particular,” “permanently,” “preventing,” “raised,” “respectively,” “reversibly,” “round,” “square,” “substantial,” “supporting,” “surrounded,” “surrounding,” “threaded,” “to,” “top,” “using,” “wherein,” “with,” or other such descriptors herein are used in their normal yes-or-no sense, not as terms of degree, unless context dictates otherwise. 
     Reference is now made in detail to the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the drawings. While embodiments are described in connection with the drawings and related descriptions, there is no intent to limit the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, the intent is to cover all alternatives, modifications and equivalents. In alternate embodiments, additional devices, or combinations of illustrated devices, may be added to, or combined, without limiting the scope to the embodiments disclosed herein. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an illustrated view of an exemplary carrying device  100 , also known as “Pump on the Go,” for transportation and use to express breast milk is presented. The exemplary carrying device  100  is useful for providing an easy method to transport a breast milk pump  103  while keeping both hands free to attend to the child or other events. The carrying device  100  is preferably made of a stretchy nylon cloth material but other materials are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, vinyl, cotton, plastic, etc. The shape of the carrying device  100  is preferably an oblong shape, but other shapes are hereby contemplated including, but not limited to, round, square, trapezoidal, octagonal, pentagonal, etc. The carrying device  100  is preferably a pouch, but other types of carrying devices are hereby contemplated, such as, but not limited to, a sling, a bag, etc. The carrying device  100  is configured to fit snuggly or tight to a person&#39;s body such that the carrying device  100  does not swing forward when the person bends over and remains snug to the body. 
     The carrying device  100  has a strap  101 , a holding portion  102 , a front  109 , a pocket  115  and a back  110 . The strap  101  of the carrying device  100  is preferably adjustable in length. The strap  101  of the carrying device  100  may have an adjustable coupling such as a buckle, a Velcro coupling, a button, a snap, etc. The strap  101  of the carrying device  100  is configured to fit over either a shoulder of a mother. 
     The holding portion  102  of the carrying device  100  has an interior portion  103 . The interior portion  103  is a void area of the holding portion  102  of the carrying device  100 . The interior portion  103  of the holding portion  102  of the carrying device  100  has a breast milk pump  104  and a port  111  through the back  110  of the carrying device  100 . The breast milk pump  104  is useful for pumping breast milk from a mother. 
     The breast milk pump  104  has a power source  105 , an actuator  106 , one or more cables  107  and a motor  108 . The power source  104  is preferably a rechargeable battery, but other types of power sources are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, replaceable batteries, solar, ac/dc power source, etc. The power source  105  being electrically coupled to the motor  108  of the breast milk pump  104 . 
     The actuator  106  is preferably a button, but other types of actuators are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, toggle, wireless connectivity to a application on a computing device, etc. The actuator  106  for turning the breast milk pump  104  configured to control the electrical current from the power source  105  to the motor  108 . 
     The motor  108  is communicatively coupled to one or more breast cups  112 . The one or more breast cups  112  are removably coupled to a breast of a woman for expressing milk. 
     Each of the breast cups  112  are coupled to one of one or more bottles  113  by a connecting tube  114 . The one or more bottles  113  for storing breast milk expressed by the breast cups  112  for storage and later use. 
     The pocket  115  is coupled to the front  109  of the carrying device  100 . The pocket  115  is useful for carrying an item, such as a cell phone, tissues, wet wipes, etc. The cell phone  115  being carried in the pocket  115  has an application which is configured to communicate with the breast milk pump  104  and track usage and volume as well as a plethora of other details. 
     Moving now to  FIG. 2 , an illustrated view of the exemplary carrying device  100  shown in  FIG. 1  is shown with being used to express breast milk into the one or more bottles  113  of  FIG. 1 . A mother  200  has a torso  201 . 
     The torso  201  of the mother  200  has an upper right  204 , an upper left  205  and a lower edge  206 . The upper right  204  of the torso  201  of the mother  200  is coupled to a right shoulder  207 . 
     The upper left  205  of the torso  201  of the mother  200  is coupled to a left shoulder  210 . At least mid-way between the right shoulder  207  and the left shoulder  210  is a neck  216 . 
     The strap  101  of the carrying device  100  is configured to fit over either the right shoulder  207  of the mother  200  or over the left shoulder  210  of the mother  200 . Further, the holding portion  102  of the carrying device  100  is configured to be near either a right arm  208  of the mother  200  or a left arm  211  of the mother  200  depending on whether the mother  200  configures the position of the strap  101  of the carrying device  100  over the right shoulder  207  of the mother  200  or the left shoulder  210  of the mother  200 . 
     The carrying device  100  further has a stabilizing strap  116 . The stabilizing strap  116  is securely coupled to the holding portion  102  of the carrying device  100 . The stabilizing strap  116  is preferably made of an elastic material, however other materials are hereby contemplated, including, but not limited to, a belt, a Velcro® strip, etc. The stabilizing strap  116  is further coupled to either a wrist or a waist of a wearer to prevent the carrying device  100  from swinging when bending over, walking, etc. 
     The breast milk pump  104  has a first breast cup  301  and a second pump  302 . The first breast cup  301  and the second breast cup  302  are referenced in  FIG. 1  as one or more breast cups  112 . The first pump  301  is configured to be mechanically coupled to a first breast  219  of the torso  201  of the mother  200 . The second pump  302  is configured to be mechanically coupled to a second breast  220  of the torso  201  of the mother  200 . 
     When the breast pump  104  is actuated by the actuator  106  (shown in  FIG. 1 ), the first breast cup  301  and/or the second breast cup  302  express breast milk from the first breast  219  and/or the second breast  220  of the mother  200 . The connecting tube  114  (shown in  FIG. 1 ) provides a coupling path between the breast cup  301  and one of the bottles  113  of the carrying device  100  to receive the expressed breast milk from the first breast  219  and/or the second breast  220 . 
     The mother  200  may optionally have a cell phone configured in the pocket  115 . The mother  200  can track the amount of breast milk and usage via an application configurable on the cell phone. 
     In the numbered clauses below, specific combinations of aspects and embodiments are articulated in a shorthand form such that (1) according to respective embodiments, for each instance in which a “component” or other such identifiers appear to be introduced (with “a” or “an,” e.g.) more than once in a given chain of clauses, such designations may either identify the same entity or distinct entities; and (2) what might be called “dependent” clauses below may or may not incorporate, in respective embodiments, the features of “independent” clauses to which they refer or other features described above. 
     Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the foregoing specific exemplary processes and/or devices and/or technologies are representative of more general processes and/or devices and/or technologies taught elsewhere herein, such as in the claims filed herewith and/or elsewhere in the present application. 
     The features described with respect to one embodiment may be applied to other embodiments or combined with or interchanged with the features of other embodiments, as appropriate, without departing from the scope of the present invention. 
     Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.