Breast pump adaptor and method of filling bag
View Patent ↗An adaptor, system, and method for collecting for a breast pump. A breast milk bag has a hole adjacent an end margin. The bag can have a reclosable seal and a zone of weakness for separating a sealed portion from a header. An adaptor has inlet end and an outlet end and defines a flow passage. The inlet end is securable to the outlet of the breast pump so liquid therefrom can flow through the flow passage. A slot extends through the adaptor wall to at least partially define a retainer for extending through the hole to mount the bag on the adapter. In a method of use, the bag is secured to the adaptor using the retainer, filled with breast milk, sealed while secured to the adaptor, and the sealed portion of the bag can be removed by tearing the bag along the zone of weakness.
1. An adaptor for securing a bag comprising a bag body defining a bag interior and a bag opening to a breast pump to receive liquid dispensed from an outlet of the breast pump in the bag interior, the bag body comprising at least one hole at an end margin thereof adjacent the bag opening, the adaptor comprising a liquid flow passage, an inlet end portion, and an outlet end portion and a wall extending circumferentially about the liquid flow passage and longitudinally between the inlet end portion and the outlet end portion of the adaptor, the inlet end portion of the adaptor being configured to attach to the outlet of the breast pump so that liquid dispensed from the outlet of the breast pump passes through the liquid flow passage and is dispensed from the outlet end portion of the adaptor, the adaptor further comprising at least one slot extending through the wall and a retainer at least partially defined by the slot, the retainer being configured to extend through the at least one hole in the bag body to secure the bag to the breast pump to receive the liquid dispensed from the outlet end portion of the adaptor;
wherein the slot comprises a pair of leg portions and a top connecting portion and the wall tapers toward the inlet end portion of the adaptor so that the top connecting portion of the slot extends laterally inward of at least a portion of the retainer.
2. The adaptor in claim 1 further comprising two slots extending through the wall of the adaptor and two retainers, each of the two retainers being at least partially defined by a respective one of the two slots.
3. The adaptor in claim 2 wherein each of the two retainers is configured to extend through a separate hole at the end margin of the bag body to secure the bag to the breast pump to receive the liquid dispensed from the outlet end portion of the adaptor.
4. The adaptor in claim 1 wherein the slot defines a boundary around three sides of the retainer.
5. The adaptor in claim 1 wherein the slot is substantially U-shaped.
6. The adaptor in claim 1 wherein the leg portions of the slot are oriented substantially parallel to one another.
7. The adaptor in claim 6 wherein the connecting portion of the slot is arcuate.
8. The adaptor in claim 1 wherein the wall comprises an inboard surface and an outboard surface and wherein, when the retainer extends through the at least one hole in the bag body, the inboard surface of the wall at the retainer is configured to engage a portion of the end margin of the bag body and the outboard surface of the wall adjacent the retainer is configured to engage another portion of the bag body.
9. The adaptor in claim 1 wherein the retainer is formed as one piece of material with the wall of the adaptor.
10. The adaptor in claim 1 wherein the wall has a height and no portion of the retainer projects radially outward beyond adjacent portions of the wall that are aligned with retainer along the height.
11. The adaptor in claim 1 in combination with the bag, wherein the bag body defines a bag interior and a bag opening adjacent a top edge of the bag, the bag body comprising the at least one hole configured to be received over the retainer to hang the bag from the adaptor to receive liquid dispensed from the breast pump in the bag interior.
12. The combination of the adaptor and the bag as set forth in claim 11 wherein the bag comprises a reclosable seal extending across a width of the bag and being positioned on the bag body with respect to the hole so that the bag is sealable using the reclosable seal while the bag hangs from the adaptor.
13. The combination of the adaptor and the bag as set forth in claim 12 wherein the reclosable seal is positioned on the bag body with respect to the hole so that the bag is sealable using the reclosable seal while the bag hangs from the adaptor and the bag interior is at least partially filled with liquid.
14. The combination of the adaptor and the bag as set forth in claim 13 wherein the bag body further comprises a zone of weakness extending across the width of the bag between the top edge of the bag and the reclosable seal, the bag body being tearable along the zone of weakness to separate a portion of the bag body that is at least partially filled with liquid and sealed with the reclosable seal from a top end margin of the bag body without removing the retainer from the hole in the bag body.
15. A system for collecting breast milk, the system comprising:
at least one bag comprising a bag body defining a bag interior and a bag opening, the bag body comprising at least one hole at an end margin thereof adjacent the bag opening, a reclosable seal configured to selectively seal the bag spaced apart from the at least one hole relative to the end margin, and a zone of weakness spaced apart between the end margin and the reclosable seal and defining a header portion of the bag; and
an adaptor for securing the bag to a breast pump, the adaptor comprising a wall having an inlet end portion and a spaced apart outlet end portion, the wall defining a flow passage extending along an axis through the inlet end portion and outlet end portion, the inlet end portion being configured to attach to an outlet of a breast pump so that liquid dispensed from the outlet of the breast pump passes through the liquid flow passage and is dispensed from the outlet end portion of the adaptor, the adaptor further comprising a retainer configured to extend through the at least one hole in the bag body to secure the bag to the breast pump to receive the liquid dispensed from the outlet end portion of the adaptor, the adaptor and the bag being sized and arranged so that, when the retainer secures the bag to the adaptor, the reclosable seal can be selectively sealed and the bag body can be subsequently torn along the zone of weakness to separate a sealed portion of the bag from the header portion without removing the header portion from the adaptor;
wherein the adaptor further comprises at least one slot extending through the wall, the at least one slot at least partially defining the retainer, the slot comprising a pair of leg portions and a top connecting portion and the wall tapers toward the inlet end portion of the adaptor so that the top connecting portion of the slot extends laterally inward of at least a portion of the retainer.
16. The adaptor in claim 1 wherein the retainer has a free end and a fixed end, the retainer being joined to the wall at the fixed end, the free end of the retainer being located nearer to the inlet end portion of the wall than to the fixed end of the retainer.