Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of storage and protection of bags and specifically to a container for storing and/or protecting a breast milk bag.

Background of the Invention

Breast milk is the milk produced by the breasts (or mammary glands) of a human female for her or another's baby. Breast 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, either exclusively or in combination with other foods from around six months of age when solid foods may be introduced.

Breast milk contains complex proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and other biologically active components. The composition changes over a single feed as well as over the period of lactation.

Expressed breast milk can be stored and kept in the freezer for periods of up to 6 -12 months. Many mothers cannot be with their babies during all hours of the day, mainly due to the fact that they need to return to their daily career work. In these cases, in order to prolong the duration of breastfeeding and to allow their babies to carry on consuming breast milk even when the mother and baby are apart, many mothers choose to store and freeze their breastmilk. Breast milk should be stored with airtight seals, wherein some plastic bags are designed for storage periods of less than 72 hours, others can be used for up to 12 months if frozen.

However, upon multiple expressions of breast milk for storage in breast milk storage bags, various problems arise. The main problem is the fact that during the freezing process the breast milk expands and consequently places more stress and pressure on the plastic. This excess pressure unfortunately can lead to the rupture of one or more bags. Additional problems encountered upon storage of breast milk bags in the freezer include, the difficult storage of multiple separate bags in a confined space, the difficulty to differentiate which of the bags has the oldest expressed milk and should therefore be used first and often the compact storage of several bags and the consequent potential friction between the bags and other items in the narrow spaced freezer which can increase the chance of a rupture of one or more bags due to applied pressure, and the like.

Summary of the Invention

In some demonstrative embodiments, there is provided a container for storing and/or protecting a single breast milk bag.

According to some demonstrative embodiments, the container may include at least one openings adapted to enable a label of the breast milk bag to be visible outside the container, e.g., when the container is closed and contains a breast milk bag.

According to some embodiments, the container may include a base part and a cover part.

According to some embodiments, the base part may include one or more first connecting elements, and the cover part may include one or more second connecting elements. According to these embodiments, a plurality of containers according to the present invention may be connected together, e.g., stackable, via connecting the first and second connecting elements of different container, e.g., as explained in detail below.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The present invention will become fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings, which are given by way of illustration and example only, and thus not limiting in any way, wherein:

Figs. 1A and IB respectively illustrate an isometric view of a closed and open modes of the container according to some demonstrative embodiments described herein. Fig. 2 illustrates an isometric view of a container containing a breast milk storage bag in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments described herein.

Fig. 3 illustrates a close up view of a container in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments described herein.

Figs. 4A and 4B are schematic front views of a single container and a plurality of container, respectively, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments described herein. Detailed Description of the Invention

In some demonstrative embodiments, there is provided a container for storing and/or protecting a single breast milk bag.

According to some demonstrative embodiments, storing and/or protecting a single bag, in contrast to storing two or more bags together prevents the possible rupture of a bag since the bags are not compressed together and no substantial pressure is applied to the breast milk bag contained in the container of the present invention.

In addition, the present invention enables the use of a single bag without the need to separate it from other bags, e.g., which might be particularly difficult and/or problematic when the bags are stored frozen together and might rupture upon separation due to friction.

According to some demonstrative embodiments, the container may include at least one openings adapted to enable a label of the breast milk bag to be visible outside the container, e.g., when the container is closed and contains a breast milk bag.

According to some embodiments, the visible label may enable one that needs to verify the date the milk was expressed in a certain bag without having to handle the bag and physically check the date written on the outside label of the storage bag. It is noted, that this further handling and comparing of different storage bags can also result in more friction with the bags, and the present invention overcomes this problem.

According to some embodiments, the container may include a base part and a cover part.

According to some embodiments, the base part may include one or more first connecting elements, and the cover part may include one or more second connecting elements. According to these embodiments, a plurality of containers according to the present invention may be connected together, e.g., stackable, via connecting the first and second connecting elements of different container, e.g., as explained in detail below.

According to some embodiments, the container of the present invention may be made of a rigid or semi-rigid material which may be adapted to provide protection to the breast milk bag.

According to some embodiments the container may be made of a material selected from the group including plastics such as Polyester (PES), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polyethylene (PE), High-density polyethylene (HDPE), Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS), High impact polystyrene (HIPS), Polyamides (PA), Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), Poly ethylene/ Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (PE/ABS), Polycarbonate (PC),

Polycarbonate/Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (PC/ABS) and Polyurethanes (PU).

According to some demonstrative embodiments, the container may be made of a special purpose plastic (also known as high-performance plastic), selected from the group including: Maleimide bismaleimide, Melamine formaldehyde (MF), Plastarch material, Phenolics (PF), Polyepoxide (epoxy), Polyetheretherketone (PEEK), Polyetherimide (PEI) (Ultem), Polylactic acid (PLA), Poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA), Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), Urea-formaldehyde (UF), Furan, Silicone, Poly sulf one.

Reference is now made to figures 1A and IB which respectively illustrate an isometric view of a closed and open modes of container 100 according to some demonstrative embodiments described herein.

As shown in figure 1, container 100 may include a base part 102, which is adapted to encompass a single breast milk bag. Container 100 may also include a cover part 104, adapted to be closed upon base part 102.

According to some embodiments, cover part 104 may be connected to base part 102, for example, via one or more connectors, wherein according to these embodiments, cover part 104 may autonomously return to place after opening, e.g., due to said connectors which may include a plastic elements, and/or spring element and/or any other suitable element which may cause the return of cover part 104 to place after opening.

According to other embodiments, cover part 104 may slide in or out of base part 102.

According to some demonstrative embodiments, container 100 may include at least one opening 106 adapted to enable a label of the breast milk bag to be visible outside container 100, e.g., when container 100 is closed and contains a breast milk bag.

Reference is now made to Fig. 2 which illustrates an isometric view of a container 100 containing a breast milk storage bag 200 in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments described herein.

According to some demonstrative embodiments, bag 200 may include at least one label 202, wherein label 202 is adapted to be written on, e.g., to indicate the date and time of expression of the breast milk.

Reference is now made to figure 3 which illustrates a close up view of container 100 in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments described herein.

As shown in figure 3, when cover part 104 is placed upon base part 102 to close and protect a breast milk storage bag, container 100 may still include at least one opening 106, e.g, to enable label 202 to be visible outside container 100.

According to some embodiments, this feature may enable a person to know the exact date and/or time of expression of the breast milk within the breast milk storage bag without opening container 100. Reference is now made to figures 4A and 4B which are schematic front views of a single container 100 and a plurality of containers, respectively, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments described herein. According to some demonstrative embodiments, a plurality of containers 100 may be combined together to enable the effective storage and protection of a plurality of breast milk bags encompassed therein.

According to some embodiments, base part 102 may include one or more first connecting elements 110, and cover part 104 may include one or more second connecting elements 108. According to these embodiments, a plurality of containers according to the present invention may be connected together, e.g., stacked together, via connecting the first connecting elements 110 and second connecting elements 108 of different containers.

According to some demonstrative embodiments, upon stacking together a plurality of containers 100, a person may place containers 100 in a specific order, for example, according to the date and/or time of expression of the milk encompassed in the breast milk bags contained therein, i.e., according to each single bag contained in each container 100.

While this invention has been described in terms of some specific examples, many modifications and variations are possible. It is therefore understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be realized otherwise than as specifically described.