Patent Application
20240292910
U.S. Pat. No. 2,248,204 A discloses a strapless garment frame for women that includes a stiff-flexible bar adapted to extend medially from the front of the body from near the abdomen to a position between the breasts. The frame, which is worn under leaning clothing, further comprises a belly portion arranged to be worn on the body. A first means attaches the belly portion to the body. A further means pivotally connects the lower end of the frame to the abdominal member. An element grips and supports each breast. Finally, the frame has means pivotally connecting the element to the upper end of the bracket, the elements and bracket being movable about separate pivot points so as not to impede free movement of the body.
From WO 2017/204 882 A1 an underwear system is known, in particular a frontless, backless and strapless bralette adapted to provide improved cleavage of a wearer's breasts, comprising: A first compression pad having an inner and outer surface, the inner surface contoured to engage the outer surface of one breast of the wearer; a second compression pad having an inner and outer surface, the inner surface contoured to engage the outer surface of the other breast of the wearer and a force-generating member having first and second ends connected to said first and second compression pads, respectively, and extending downwardly, away from the breasts of the wearer toward the abdomen of the wearer to push the breast of the wearer toward each other to provide the enhanced breast size and cleavage.
From U.S. Pat. No. 9,565,878 B2 a breast support device is known, comprising a support member having an upper end and a lower end, the support member adapted to be positioned on a user's torso; at least one breast lift member connected to the upper end of the support member, the breast lift member adapted to support an underside of a breast.
Bras and their Structure
Bras are predominantly used to support female breasts. As a rule, a bra has two cups, each of which encloses at least part of one breast and supports it in this way. The cups are connected to each other centrally between the two breasts. On both sides of the cups, a connection leads around the back of a person wearing the brassiere in order to enclose the chest.
Conventionally, the cups of a bra are usually formed by a shaping and supporting textile material layer, the material of which provides sufficient stability to be able to give support to the breasts to be held in it. To improve wearing comfort, a pad is often incorporated on the inside of each cup.
Classically, bras are offered in different sizes to fit the body shapes of the people wearing them. In this regard, bras are differentiated in terms of both an underbust measurement and a cup size.
Conventional bras hold the breasts in place via shoulder straps on both sides, with a connection on both sides starting from the chest and passing under the arms to join at the back. Instead of shoulder straps, straps alternatively run across the neck (so-called neck holder). Or the attachment is made only by a bandage (so-called bandeau bra/strapless bra).
As a result, the needs of many users of the aforementioned classic solutions, especially those with large breasts, are helped only to a limited extent by the fact that the load rests predominantly on the cervical and thoracic vertebrae. In the medium to long term, this local overloading leads to pain or postural damage. It is therefore not uncommon for affected patients are prescribed a handmade corset by their costly corset or are advised to undergo a surgical procedure (breast reduction).
Also, the attachment is with most BH's relatively cumbersome for most bras, as users must insert both arms through the loops to do so and then close and reopen the bra from behind, as the closure is usually located at the back.
Backless bras developed to date can only inadequately solve the problems, since omitting the shoulder and back straps provides inadequate support for large breasts or involves complicated straps that are positioned both across the lower back (e.g., corsets) and between the legs (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 2,248,204 A). As the complexity of such solutions increases, stability increases, but at the expense of practicality. So, the U.S. Pat. No. 2,248,204 A design relies on an overlying garment as an enclosure, and a corset is cumbersome and unwieldy for daily practice.
It is not always desirable that the holding device can be seen by third parties, which is why the classic bra is often chosen with a transparent strap, which only fulfills the invisibility objective to a limited extent. The compromising solution to the visibility problem by see-through bra leaves open the problem of “hanger shoulders” in addition to the health aspect and practicality. This problem, known as “Coat Hanger Shoulders” in the Anglo-Saxon world, describes the cutting of the straps into the shoulders of the wearer with heavy breasts.
The lifetime of classic bras is not particularly long. The larger the breasts, the faster such a bra wears out. Also, the materials that give the bras stability (e.g. plastic or metal underwires) wear out, not only after wearing, but also after washing, shortening the life of the textiles.
The invention is intended to innovatively optimize the current state of the art by creating a simple, durable and healthy everyday carrying device, that fully fulfills its task of securing breasts in everyday life without the need for classic shoulder and back straps and at the same time effectively minimizes a given health impairment.
The core of the invention is a breast bow, which runs vertically to the body front of a standing person, starting from the upper end of a chest enclosure downwards over a horizontal elastic support (body center axis), which does not completely enclose the human body, curves convexly away from the body and meets the abdomen at the lower end. This vertical elastic bow is applied approximately at hip level or roughly in the middle of the body centerline and fixed to the body by snapping in the clamp-like hip holder around the hip to fix it to the body. To close of the horizontal hip bracket, the ends do not necessarily have to meet each other when enclosing the construct on the back. An intentional gap can also be may remain. By tightening the vertical arch, a large part of the weight pressure from the breasts is transferred to the abdomen, the hips and the back region.
The object of protection is therefore the breast bow, which is curved away from the body, also known as the stirrup, for distributing the weight of the chest over four areas, namely the chest, hip, back and abdominal areas, as a shift of weight towards the center of the body. Due to its straightening (centered tightening towards the body) in combination with its hip support, the breast bow experiences a tension between the chest and abdominal area on the one hand and from the axis chest/abdominal area to the hip/back area on the other hand.
The invention achieves the following advantages:
By distributing the weight of the breast over the entire body, a classically one-sided load on the cervical or thoracic vertebrae is avoided, thus preventing postural defects.
Strapless bras are usually unsuitable, especially for large breasts, which is why this invention is a viable and welcome alternative for this group of consumers to wear off-the-shoulder dresses.
In addition, depending on the design, the breast frame at the top of the breast bow can take on the function of a so-called push-up bra. This means that by pulling the breast bow towards the body, the breast support is extended or pushed up towards the bust, making it particularly obvious.
Another benefit of the breast bow is for users who do not have a very petite figure. Here, the abdominal and hip contact, on which part of the weight of the bust rests or the tension force is transferred, counteracts the size of the belly and thus conceals it. In addition, the wearer is encouraged to adopt a more upright posture.
This new technique is of great benefit in terms of the time required to apply the breast bow. Thus, the bow only needs to be placed under the breasts and the centerline of the body pressed against the abdomen, while at the same time the bow clamp embraces the body. As a result, the breast bow fits tightly with just a “click” (clasping the waist bow around the body torso) and the bow is taut under the breasts in place, without a complicated back closure. As a preferred universal belly element, for example, four standard arch sizes, three standard clamp sizes, it can be easily pressed on depending on the desired tension, without complicated back closure.
The lifetime of a breast bow should be much longer than that of a classic bra that wears out over time. Since, regardless of the choice of material, it must have a greater stiffness to function, a durability of more than a decade can be assumed. Thus, changes in human reference sizes (e.g., weight gain) are more likely to lead to a new purchase than wear and tear on the bust band. The new design also offers the possibility of new combinations of materials, for example even paper materials for padding in baskets of plastic on a fiber-reinforced sheet with a metal sheet clamp slidably clamped to it.
These advantages make the invention commercially useful.
The invention is described below with reference to two preferred embodiments to which the invention is not limited. According to
The arch clamp 1 according to
Thus, the breast bow—not only due to its handy size—can be pressed against the body easily, comfortably and in a time-saving manner for use.
By pulling the girdle towards the body, the arch 2 expands at its ends both towards the breasts and towards the abdomen; it is pressed flat and stretches in length as a result. At the upper end, the breast is better supported or the pressure is increased by the inserted breast frame 3. Also, tightening increases the pressure on the abdominal contact is increased (weight distribution).
Soft parts (covers, gel pads, etc.) connected to or removable from the construct enable comfortable and hygienic wearing and also serve to extend the service life of the material. These include inserts specially adapted to the construct for the chest, hip protectors or protective covers for abdominal contact.
In addition to the pure brassiere function, other positive properties (e.g., differentiated wearing comfort) can be attributed to the breast bow as side effects.
The embodiment of this invention is multi-layered and will be explained below with some examples.
The basic functionality, independent of partitioning or functional additions, is illustrated in
Thus, different materials, such as wood, plastic, light metal, etc., different fasteners, such as hooks, eyelets, press studs, zippers, etc., can be used for the bow 2 when a back strap is used as a holder, and the fastener can be attached as desired to the side, back or directly to the front of the bow 2.
Both the abdominal contact and the chest support can have different shapes and sizes-according to individual measurements and preferences. The breast support can either support only the lower part of the breast or also encompass the entire breast, depending on the size.
Even if sufficient tension results from the individual selection of the fit, arch inclination angle, material elasticity and arch length, the axial attachment of an additional tension aid (e.g. adjusting wheel with tension spring) centrally on the breast bow is possible, which increases the tension between the bra and the abdomen and/or regulates the tension or clamping force of the hip support.
For example, if the person using it has gained weight or eaten well, he or she would open a classic bra. In the case of a breast bow, on the other hand, there is a better distribution of the tension force and the tension size can additionally be reduced manually by means of a tension regulator, so as to continue to benefit from a partial weight distribution despite the pressure relief. Narrow incorporated vertical rollers at the clamp ends can facilitate the application of the hip clamp 1 to the body.
In addition, a rail-guided variant, both horizontally and vertically guided, is conceivable in order to be able to make size adjustments. The vertical bow 2 and the horizontal clamp 1 can each consist of two or three parts in such a way that they are rail-guided and can thus be manually moved up or down (bow 2) or backwards or forwards on both sides (clamp 1) and locked in place by the user.
In the above example of weight increase, the rail-guided bows could then also be pulled apart slightly.
There is also the possibility of interchangeable variants, where, for example, the breast welt (3) can be detached from bow 2 and replaced by another welt.
Although the vertical length of the breast bow preferably measures only one to two hand widths, it can happen that, depending on the fit (e.g. arches protruding to the lower abdomen in the case of very strongly tightened hip braces), the convexity is perceived as disturbing when bending forward the higher pressure on the breasts or the abdominal contact. In this rare case, a two-part interlocking vertical breast bow can be used, whereby similar to a shock absorber, telescope or tongue and groove, during bending the arches held apart by an internal spring or air pressure are gently pressed into each other and slide apart again when released.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 2020 107 418.0 | Dec 2020 | DE | national |
The invention relates to a brassiere (bra) as already known from U.S. Pat. No. 2,242,204 A.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/DE2021/101018 | 12/18/2021 | WO |
