Male Undergarment

Abstract

A male undergarment providing a comfort barrier between the genitalia and the thighs to prevent chafing and sweating and to decrease scrotum temperature to improve fertility, while also providing unrestricted movement to the scrotum and penis without requiring readjustment of the comfort barrier.

Description

BACKGROUND

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to male undergarments, and more specifically to a male undergarment that separates the genitalia from the thighs to improve comfort, prevent chafing, and decrease scrotal temperature to improve fertility, and which does so in a way that does not require continued readjustment.

Background of the Invention

There are many problems associated with the most popular styles of male undergarments today. The most popular types of male undergarments are boxer shorts, which allow the genitalia to hang free, and briefs, which confine the genitalia close to the body. In the case of boxer shorts, the genitalia, most particularly the scrotum, is allowed to come into contact with the thighs. This causes the scrotum to stick to the thighs, causing chafing and sweating in hot weather, and requires the wearer to frequently readjust the genitalia for comfort. In the case of briefs, the genitalia are confined close to the body. While this is less likely to cause chafing, confining the scrotum close to the body is going to raise its temperature, which decreases sperm viability.

Several prior-art male undergarments exist that attempt to solve these problems. While most of them provide a separate pouch for the genitalia, some prior art undergarments attempt to confine the genitalia in a more open-ended separate compartment with no vertical support of the genitalia. In either case, the prior art male undergarments attempt to contain the genitalia and prevent it from moving, which will still require frequent readjustments as the wearer moves around, and which may even cause discomfort depending on how the wearer moves around.

A need exists for a male undergarment that separates the genitalia from the thighs and does not confine the genitalia at all, vertically or horizontally.

LIST OF FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a view of an embodiment of the present invention from the top.

FIG. 2 shows a view of an embodiment of the present invention as worn by a user.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of the underside of an embodiment of the present invention as worn by a user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a male undergarment that is comfortable to wear and does not require frequent readjustment.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a male undergarment that does not confine or contain the genitalia or impede its free movement in any way.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a male undergarment that prevents scrotum contact with the thighs regardless of how the wearer moves around.

In an aspect of the present invention, it comprises an undergarment with two leg holes and a waistband, and a perineum covering portion located between the two leg holes. A trapezoidal bottom panel is attached to the perineum covering portion; the trapezoidal bottom panel comprises a top side, a bottom side, and two slanted sides; the top side is longer than the bottom side. There is a large genital opening at the front of the undergarment that is large enough for a user's penis and scrotum to pass through it comfortably. The bottom of the genital opening is formed by the top side of the trapezoidal bottom panel, and the top of the genital opening is located at the waistband. The genital opening also comprises a left side and a right side. A left side panel is attached to the left side of the genital opening and a right side panel is attached to the right side; each extends from the trapezoidal bottom panel to a location between the top side and bottom side. The left side panel contacts the user's left thigh when the male undergarment is worn, extending from the left side of the genital opening to the user's inguinal crease; the right side panel contacts the user's right thigh, extending from the right side of the genital opening to the user's inguinal crease.

In an embodiment, the undergarment also comprises at least one flap covering the genital opening, where the flap does not constrain the motion of the genitalia.

In an embodiment, the left side panel and the right side panel comprise mesh four-way stretch fabric. In an embodiment, each panel is approximately 140 mm long.

In an embodiment, the left side panel and the right side panel are shaped like a segment of a circle and are approximately 40 mm at their widest point.

In an embodiment, the top side of the trapezoidal bottom panel is approximately 60 mm long.

In an embodiment, the trapezoidal bottom panel is located on a user's perineum with the top side of the trapezoidal bottom panel behind the scrotum when the male undergarment is worn.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the image, the garment outwardly resembles a standard male undergarment, in that it comprises a waistband 100, leg holes 110, and that it covers the buttocks and the hips. It will be understood that while the image shows a shorts-style undergarment, the present invention can be practiced with a brief-style undergarment as well, without the shorts-style leg coverage.

The garment comprises a genital opening 120, sized and positioned appropriately to admit the penis and scrotum through it. In the preferred embodiment, the genital opening extends all the way from the perineum to the waistband as shown. In an embodiment, the genital opening is loosely covered by two flaps (not shown). The flaps do not confine the genitalia in any significant way, either horizontally or vertically, and serve simply to prevent genital contact with the user's pants and to improve the appearance of the undergarment. Trapezoidal bottom panel 130 forms the bottom side of the genital opening, providing a separation between the scrotum and the thighs and perineum. Left side panel 140 and right side panel 150 are located to either side of the genital opening, separating the lateral sides of the scrotum from the thighs.

The side panels 140 and 150 are positioned in such a way as to be in close contact with the thighs when the garment is worn, and to cover at least the entire area where the scrotum would touch the thighs normally. This enables adequate separation between the scrotum and the thighs while also allowing free movement of the genitalia without the need for readjustment—while there is fabric separating the scrotum and thighs, that fabric hugs the thighs rather than hugging the scrotum, which is more comfortable and less likely to require readjustment. The advantage of the present invention over the prior art is that the prior art undergarments tend to cup the scrotum rather than cover the thighs; since the male genitalia move around during normal activity, the genitalia tend to come out of the cup or shift within the cup while the undergarment is worn, requiring readjustment. Since the present invention covers the thighs rather than cupping the genitalia, no readjustment is needed—the thighs are always separated from the scrotum no matter what the user does. Even if the user were to turn upside-down (for an exercise, for example) and then turn back to an upright position, his genitalia will require no readjustment—the side panels will stay in place, and while the genitalia will move around, there is no way it will ever come in contact with the user's thighs. When the user stands upright again, his genitalia will hang down unimpeded, and the side panels will prevent it from contacting the user's thighs as before. There is simply no way for the genitalia to get out of place in a way that would require readjustment.

Furthermore, one other advantage of the present invention is that when the user pulls down the undergarment and then pulls it back up again, the undergarment does not “catch” the scrotum, requiring readjustment. Prior art undergarments require careful placement of the genitalia in order to provide comfort. The present invention simply requires the user to pull up the undergarment; there is no way that the scrotum can get caught in the side panels as the undergarment is pulled up.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the undergarment of the present invention being worn by a user. As can be seen, the side panels 140 and 150 cover the thighs of the user; the user's genitalia hang freely and are only loosely covered by the flaps 200 and 210. (It must be noted that the flaps 200 and 210 are optional and not required for practicing the present invention). As can be seen, when the undergarment is worn, the side panels 140 and 150 extend from the user's inguinal crease to the edge of the genital opening. Furthermore, regardless of how the user moves around, the side panels 140 and 150 stay in contact with the skin of the user's thighs, between the inguinal crease and the edge of the genital opening.

In an embodiment, the side panels are shaped like circular segments, with the widest part of the side panel being approximately 40 mm at its widest point. This enables sufficient coverage of the thigh so that the scrotum will never come into contact with it. In other embodiments, the curved side of the side panel can be shaped like other curves—a segment of an oval, for example—as long as the genital opening is wide enough to admit the genitalia without discomfort.

The side panel is attached to the edge of the genital opening continuously throughout the length of the side panel without any gaps. This is important, because this makes the side panel less likely to twist or to catch a part of the genitalia in an uncomfortable way. At least one prior art design contains a significant gap between a ribbon-like part of a pocket for the genitalia and the rest of the undergarment, which makes it much less stable and less likely to stay in place. The present invention has no gaps between the side panel and the undergarment, preventing twisting or moving out of place.

Trapezoidal bottom panel 130 is located right behind the scrotum on the perineum, as shown in FIG. 3. The purpose of the trapezoidal bottom panel is to provide sufficient separation between the side panels to prevent discomfort for the user. As shown in the Figure, the longer parallel side of the trapezoidal bottom panel is located behind the scrotum, and the slanted sides of the trapezoidal bottom panel, as well as the shorter parallel side, are attached to the fabric of the undergarment. The longer parallel side of the trapezoidal bottom panel forms the bottom side of the genital opening. The trapezoidal bottom panel is preferably located in such a way as to prevent any contact between the scrotum and the perineum regardless of the user's position.

The dimensions of the trapezoidal bottom panel can vary, but in the preferred embodiment, the longer parallel side of the trapezoidal bottom panel is approximately 60 mm long. This enables it to provide sufficient separation between the side panels so that the user's genitalia are not constrained laterally in any way.

The side panels are attached to the left and right side of the genital opening so that one end of each side panel is at the corner between the trapezoidal bottom panel and the left or right side of the genital opening. This ensures that the side panels wrap slightly around the thigh, creating closer contact between the side panel and the thigh, and making it less likely that it may move out of place or be uncomfortable.

The left side panel, right side panel, and trapezoidal bottom panel may be made out of a mesh four-way stretch fabric to provide greater ventilation and comfort. Alternately, any fabric used for the manufacture of undergarments may also be used.

While the genitalia are completely free to move in the undergarment of the present invention, in an embodiment, one or more panels to cover the genitalia may be used with the present invention, as long as the motion of the genitalia is not overtly constrained by the panels. This is useful for modesty and cleanliness of the user's outer garments. It is to be emphasized that the panel is not a required element of the present invention.

An exemplary embodiment is described above. It will be understood that the present invention encompasses reasonable equivalents to the above described elements that would be apparent to a person of reasonable skill in the art.

Claims

1. A male undergarment, comprising a front and a back, comprising: two leg holes;a waistband;a perineum covering portion located between the two leg holes;a trapezoidal bottom panel attached to the perineum covering portion, wherein the trapezoidal bottom panel comprises a top side, a bottom side, and two slanted sides, wherein the top side is longer than the bottom side;a genital opening on the front of the undergarment that is large enough so that a user's penis and scrotum may comfortably pass through it, wherein the genital opening comprises a left side, a right side, a top side, and a bottom side, wherein the bottom side of the opening is formed by the top side of the trapezoidal bottom panel, wherein the top side is located at the waistband;a left side panel located along the left side of the genital opening, extending from the trapezoidal bottom panel to a location between the top side and the bottom side, wherein the left side panel is attached to the genital opening along the left side of the genital opening, wherein the left side panel contacts a user's left thigh when the male undergarment is worn, and wherein the left side panel extends from the left side of the genital opening to a user's inguinal crease when the male undergarment is worn;a right side panel located along the right side of the genital opening, extending from the trapezoidal bottom panel to a location between the top side and the bottom side, wherein the right side panel is attached to the genital opening along the right side of the genital opening, wherein the right side panel contacts a user's right thigh when the male undergarment is worn, and wherein the right side panel extends from the right side of the genital opening to a user's inguinal crease when the male undergarment is worn.

2. The male undergarment of claim 1, further comprising: at least one flap covering the genital opening, in such a way as to permit easy access to the genitalia and to not constrain its motion.

3. The male undergarment of claim 1, wherein the left side panel and the right side panel comprise mesh four-way stretch fabric.

4. The male undergarment of claim 1, wherein the top side of the trapezoidal bottom panel is approximately 60 mm long.

5. The male undergarment of claim 1, wherein each of the left side panel and right side panel are shaped like a segment of a circle, and wherein each of the left side panel and right side panel is approximately 40 mm at their widest point.

6. The male undergarment of claim 1, wherein each of the left side panel and right side panel are approximately 140 mm in length along their attachment to the genital opening.

7. The male undergarment of claim 1, wherein the top side of the trapezoidal bottom panel is located on a user's perineum behind the scrotum when the male undergarment is worn.