Patent Application
20250134180
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of adjustable undergarments, and more particularly to athletic shorts with an adjustable support pouch to allow a user to exercise while avoiding chaffing through adjustment of the support pouch.
Men's underwear are garments of clothing that are typically worn underneath outer clothing and has direct contact with skin and male genital areas. Men's underwear is useful to stop direct contact with skin and coarser outer layers. Many kinds of men's underwear are available, including boxers, boxer briefs and regular briefs.
Compression shorts are utilized as undergarments for men and women to prevent chaffing of the thighs, typically during exercise. Furthermore, compression shorts are used to contain, in several ways. For instance, compression shorts are typically made out of elastic fibers and materials, such as polyester, in order to contract on a user's waist and thighs, in order to prevent shifting and movement of the undergarment.
While compression shorts accommodate the shifting, moving, and bunching of boxers, boxer briefs, and regular briefs, they do not provide a pouch that provides extra surface area and volume to male users, in order to comfortably contain their male genitalia. Instead, compression shorts hold down male genitalia and uncomfortably press a user's male genitalia against a user's body or in between a user's legs, in order to prevent movement.
There is also a kind of underwear that creates a forward-facing pouch that receives the genitals, called anatomical underwear. Anatomical underwear separates the genitals from touching the thighs, but creates several inadequacies in doing so, including but not limited to; lack of support for the genitals from movement, genitals pushed into the perineum area, seams that rest against the groin/genitalia and conforming the pouch that is able to fit different shapes and sizes.
The instant apparatus, as illustrated herein, is clearly not anticipated, rendered obvious, or even present in any of the prior art mechanisms, either alone or in any combination thereof. A versatile apparatus for supplying comfort and containing properties to male genitalia during exercise as well as everyday use is disclosed.
A primary object of the present disclosure is to provide an adjustable undergarment that provide for a seamless and adjustable support pouch to receive male genitals which includes a toggle support system to enable the user to change the firmness and snugness of the support pouch and in turn decreasing movement of the genitalia during exercise. The support pouch may be located near or in a central on a front panel of an inner liner of the adjustable undergarment, wherein support pouch is preferably forms by an origami-like fold in the front panel to encapsulate the genitals. In one embodiment, the support pouch may be formed by an extra piece of material of the front panel being folded up at a point near a groin of the user and then secured by a stitch or similar securing mechanism near a waistband of the adjustment undergarment which creates the support pouch free of seams. In one embodiment, the front of the adjustable undergarment is comprised of a single piece of fabric, however in alternate embodiments, more than one piece of fabric may be utilized during creation. In another embodiment, a bungee and toggle system allows for the adjustment of the support pouch in an upward or downward direction relative to the waistband depending on the user's desired snugness of the genitals while using the adjustable undergarment. In one embodiment, a pair of bungees placed on opposing sides of the support pouch and each connected to the corresponding side of the support pouch preferably at an anchor located near or substantially near a button of the support pouch. A toggle may be provided at the opposing end of each bungee to allow for easy adjustment of the support pouch and held in place by an upper anchor point.
Therefore, it is the intention of this disclosure to introduce an adjustable undergarment with a preferably centrally located and seamless adjustable support pouch to secure a user's genitals. This disclosure preferably provides a support pouch that is free of seams and located within an inner liner of the adjustable undergarment to enable the user to adjust the level of support and shape of the pouch to fit the user and restrict rebound of the genitalia during movement. In one embodiment, the support pouch may be created by utilizing a single piece of fabric from the front panel, wherein the fabric is tucked, folded and secured around the genitals of the user. In this embodiment, the fold to create the support pouch is held in place by a stitch or similar securing mechanism located substantially horizontally above the support pouch. Preferably, the support pouch is adjusted upwardly or downwardly by a pair of bungee strings, connected on each side of the support at an anchor point located near or at the bottom of the support pouch. In this embodiment, the anchor points may be double stitched into the front panel, and a toggle is preferably located an end of each bungee at the anchor near the waistband to enable the cords to be engaged or disengaged by the user. In the embodiment of when the pair of bungees are engaged by the user, the support pouch may be adjusted to the user's needs, thereby supporting and reducing movement of the genitals for the current use of the adjustable undergarment. Therefore, when utilized with an outer shell, the toggles may be placed in the pockets of the outer shell to enable discreet adjustments in one embodiment.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of an adjustable undergarment, in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the system that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the device in detail, it is to be understood that the system is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description, and/or illustrated in the drawings. The system is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
These together with other objects of the device, along with the various features of novelty, which characterize the system, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the system, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated preferred embodiments of the device.
The foregoing has outlined the more pertinent and important features of the present device in order that the detailed description of the system that follows may be better understood, and the present contributions to the art may be more fully appreciated. It is of course not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components and/or methodologies, but one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize that many further combinations or permutations are possible. Accordingly, the novel architecture described below is intended to embrace all such alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
Many aspects of this invention are better understood by referencing the following drawings. The drawings are not to scale, but emphasis has been placed on showing the principles of the invention. There are multiple views of the invention and therefore like numerals identify corresponding parts through multiple views. Although one way is depicted in the following drawings, there are many ways to accomplish the goal of having an adjustable support system for the genitalia, and those methods should also be considered within scope of this claim.
The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings is intended as a description of presently preferred embodiments of the invention and does not represent the only forms in which the present invention may be constructed and/or utilized. The description sets forth the functions and the sequence of steps for constructing and operating the invention in connection with the illustrated embodiments.
Various types of undergarments, specifically boxers, briefs, and boxer briefs, do not accommodate male genitalia during exercise because they are not made out of athletic fibers such as polyester that expand and contract while holding a user's genitalia in place. Further, compression shorts do not contain an extra area where a male's genitalia can comfortable be supported without being pressed against a user's thighs. Proper accommodation may require a pouch, suitable to all size genitalia, that blocks a user's genitals from chaffing against a user's thighs, while supporting a male's genitalia comfortably, without seams that cause painful friction. The present solution implements an adjustable pouch that does not include seams and enables a user to exercise without chaffing, resulting in accommodating comfort, support, and satisfaction.
It will be appreciated that the present solution may thus be utilized while a user participates in various exercises, including but not limited to jumping, lifting, running, swimming, walking, without discomfort or inadequate support. For example, many undergarments do not allow a user to utilize a single piece of clothing that contains, protects, and supports their genitalia; the present solution can compensate for any size male genitalia by providing pull tabs attached to strings on the pouch that contract the size of the pouch when the tabs are pulled. Further, when the tabs are released, the strings attached to the pouch release and provide slack, that expands the size of the pouch. In addition, it will be appreciated that such improvements are enabled by the present solution while being attached to an outer shell shorts layer that serves as a cover to the undergarments. The outer shell shorts layer is stitched on top of the undergarment-pouch housing layer, allowing for a user to slip the shorts on in one motion without having to separately put on the undergarments and athletic shorts.
Referring now to
As shown in
Moreover, referring to
Turning now to
The genital support pouch 11 is intended to create a barrier between the legs and genital area, stopping any skin-on-skin contact or chafing. The preferred embodiment of the adjustable undergarment 10 is a 230 GSM poly/spandex blend but can also consist of any compression type or non-compression type fabric. In some embodiments a seamless circular knit sewing machine could make the genital support pouch 11 with a 3D sewing machine. This might alleviate the need for the folds/pleats. In some embodiments, the genital support pouch 11 uses fabric glue to hold the pieces together, to achieve a seamless pouch. In some embodiments, genital support pouch 11 uses butt seams that do not have the traditional flat locks or mock seams, to hold the pieces together, to achieve a seamless pouch.
Further referring to
Furthermore,
As shown in
Right side toggle 120 and left side toggle 122 allow users to adjust or customize the fit of the support pouch 11 to varying levels to fit said user's shape, size and type of activity being performed. Excess bungee cord is placed at the end of the bungee cords, after they pass through their corresponding toggle, to enable the user easy access to the bungees from slits in pockets of the outer shell 100, which allows covert adjustments. The preferred embodiment of the bungee cord is of ⅛″ shock bungee rubber rope cord, but any other cord can be used in place. Specifically, the outward pointing black arrows in
The right side toggle 120 and left side toggle 122 are comprised of a sleeve, an upper piece, and a spring. There is a hole in both the sleeve and a hole in the upper piece, that each bungee cord passes through. Tied knots keep each bungee cord from exiting each toggle. When pressure is applied to the upper piece, the two holes line up so that the bungee cord can pass through, freely. When pressure is released from the upper piece, the spring forces the upper piece away from the sleeve and the holes separate, causing tension on the bungee cord and causing them to stay in a fixed position. This type of toggle is the preferred embodiment, but many other ways can be utilized, including knots, manual cord locks and any other mechanism that creates both a tensioned and un-tensioned state.
The method for putting on the adjustable undergarment 10 is to have the left bungee cord 118, the right bungee cord 116, the right side toggle 120, and the left side toggle 122 at an un-tensioned state. The user slides their legs through each pant leg and pulls the undergarment up around their waste. The genitals are held within the support pouch 11 as the undergarment is pulled up. Once the user is comfortable with how the undergarment is positioned, they can apply tension to the bungee cords and keep said tension with the toggles. This, in turn, elevates the support pouch 11 and constricts the shape/size of the support pouch 11 to create optimal support for different users.
The preferred use of the adjustable undergarment is of athletic activity. The undergarment utilizes the toggle support system to stabilize and firmly secure male genitalia in order to stop chafing, all while preventing uncomfortable fitness sessions, as a result. In some embodiments, the undergarment is paired with an outer short to make a two-layer running short. In some embodiments, the undergarment is utilized by itself when made from a thicker material, like 300, or greater GSM.
In some embodiments, the adjustable undergarment 10 is built into a pair of pants. In some embodiments, the adjustable undergarment 10 is built into knee length tights. In some embodiments, undergarment 10 is added with the bungee cords and toggles to shorts that have the traditional pouch with seams.
Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be created without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.
This application claims the benefit of and takes priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/594,978, filed on Nov. 1, 2023, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63594978 | Nov 2023 | US |
