The present disclosure concerns nursing bras, and more specifically, a nursing bra with a replaceable and disposable cup unit.
Nursing bras are used to facilitate a mother's nursing of an infant. Known nursing bra designs generally allow the mother to selectively expose a breast while continuing to wear the bra and quickly cover the breast upon completion.
During periods of nursing infants, mothers often experience leakage of breast milk while sleeping at night. If the breast milk remains trapped in the bra cups, it can become uncomfortable and lead to skin irritation. In addition, the bra may require frequent washing.
Certain nursing bra designs have been proposed which provide for removable bra cups that can be inserted into a bra or other garment and washed. However, such known designs are often insufficiently leak resistant as the cups often become loose. Many known designs also subject the garment with which the bra cups are used to liquid exposure. In addition, the frequency of cup washing that is required is often inconvenient.
In certain known nursing bra designs with replaceable cups, the cups include mechanical fasteners made of a rigid material, such as plastic or metal hooks, snaps, clips etc. As a result, the replaceable cups, while perhaps washable and reusable, are not readily or conveniently disposable.
In certain cases, nursing bras also include a back panel (i.e., a portion of the garment that contacts the wearer's back) which has mechanical fasteners that allow the back panel to be selectively separated into two sections. This design can often produce discomfort while sleeping, as the mechanical fasteners may irritate the wearer's back.
Accordingly, a need has arisen for a nursing bra that addresses the foregoing issues.
The disclosure will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present disclosure relates to a nursing bra with a replaceable cup unit that is removably attachable to a support garment. The replaceable cup unit includes first and second cups fixedly attached to a cup holder formed from a cup holder fabric. The cups each include a cup attachment feature that facilitates attachment of the cups to a support garment. The cup holder is also preferably configured for attachment to a support garment.
In certain preferred examples, the support garment includes an anterior exposure region such that when the support garment is donned without the replacement cup unit, the breasts are located in the anterior exposure area, and the area between the nipples is substantially fully exposed. When the replaceable cup unit is attached, the area between the nipples is substantially fully exposed to and covered by the cup unit. As a result, leaked breast milk is less likely to contact the support garment and more likely to contact the replaceable cup unit. In certain examples, each breast is substantially fully exposed to and covered by one of the first and second cups of the replaceable cup unit.
The first and second cups formed from a cup material. In certain examples, each cup has an attachment feature formed from at least one attachment feature fabric which enables the cup to be removably attached to a corresponding attachment feature on a support garment. In certain embodiments, the cup attachment feature fabric is the cup material, and the attachment feature is integrally formed with the cup. In other embodiments, the cups are formed exclusively from fabrics.
The replaceable cup unit also includes a cup holder to which the cups are fixedly attached. The cup holder comprises a fabric and a cup holder attachment feature that in certain examples is formed from a cup holder attachment feature fabric. In certain embodiments, the cup holder attachment feature fabric is the cup holder fabric. In other embodiments, the cup holder is formed exclusively from fabrics. The cup holder attachment features are selectively and removably attachable to corresponding attachment features on the support garment. The replaceable cup unit preferably lacks any mechanical fasteners, such as buttons, snaps, zippers, clips or any other mechanical devices affixed to it, allowing to be readily disposed of after a period of use and exposure to breast milk.
Referring to
The cup unit 22 comprises a first cup 26 and a second cup 28 that are spaced apart from one another along a direction defining a first axis, which is the x-axis in
Attachment feature 30 is selectively attachable to a support garment 24. Suitable cup attachment feature fabrics include liquid impermeable fabrics, liquid permeable fabrics, hydrophobic non-woven fabrics, and hydrophilic non-woven fabrics. In certain examples, the cup attachment feature 30 is formed from two fabrics, each of which may be any of the foregoing fabrics. In another example, the cup attachment feature 30 is formed from the cup material. In one example, the cup unit 22 comprises two cups 26, 28, each of which has a liquid impermeable layer and a liquid permeable layer. In another example, each cup 26, 28 comprises a super absorbent polymer fluff sandwiched between a liquid impermeable layer and a liquid impermeable layer, and the cup attachment features are formed from the cup material. In
Correspondingly, second cup 28 is made of out a cup material, which is preferably the same as that of first cup 26. Second cup 28 also includes an attachment feature 32 which is the preferably made from the same material as first cup attachment feature 30 and which is also selectively attachable to a support garment. The use of attachment features 30 and 32 made out of fabric(s) avoids the need to attach separate mechanical fasteners such as hooks, clips, buttons, Velcro, snaps etc. and makes replaceable cup unit 22 more readily disposable. Thus, in certain preferred examples, first and second cups 26, 28 include no such separate mechanical fasteners. In other more preferred examples, the entire replaceable cup unit 22 includes no such separate mechanical fasteners. For ease of manufacturing, it may be preferred to form the attachment features 30 and 32 out of the cup material, or more preferably, exclusively out of the cup material.
In certain examples, the cup attachment features 30 and 32 are loops formed from at least one cup attachment feature fabric, such as the cup material. The loops may be formed, for example, by cutting the cup material such that it includes a narrow strip in the upper outer portion of each cup, forming each narrow strip into a loop and attaching its free end to the end connected to the cup body by heat pressing, glue, sewing, etc. Referring to
As mentioned previously, first cup 26 and second cup 28 are preferably fixedly attached to a cup holder 40 so as to be non-removable therefrom. First cup 26 includes an inner perimeter section 80 and a bottom perimeter section 82 that are attached to cup holder 40. Correspondingly, second cup 28 has an inner perimeter section 76 and a bottom perimeter section 78 that are attached to cup holder 40. The inner perimeter sections 80 and 76 of the first and second cups 26 and 28 are spaced apart from one another in a direction along the x-axis.
First and second cups 26 and 28 are preferably formed into the shape of a human breast. As best seen in
Cup holder 40 comprises a fabric, and is preferably formed from an elastic fabric such as an elastane containing material. In certain preferred examples, cup holder 40 is made exclusively out of fabric. In certain examples, cup holder 40 is stretchable along at least two directions, such as directions along the x and y axes of
The cup holder 40 is preferably formed with a plurality of cup holder attachment features 42a-42f (42e and 42f are not visible in
In certain preferred examples, cup holder 40 includes no separate mechanical fasteners such as hooks, clips, buttons, snaps etc., which makes replaceable cup unit 22 more readily disposable. Certain of the attachment features 42a-42f are spaced apart from one another along the x-axis direction (i.e., along a direction orthogonal to the wearer's height direction). At one end of the cup holder 40 proximate first cup 26, two attachment features 42e and 42f are spaced apart along the y-axis direction from one another. At the opposite end of the cup holder 40 proximate second cup 28, two attachment features 42a and 42b are spaced apart from one another along the y-axis direction. Each of the attachment features 42a-42f is spaced apart from the first and second cup attachment features 30 and 32 along the y-axis direction.
Cup holder attachment features 42a and 42b define a first attachment region and are located on a portion of cup holder 40 that projects outwardly away from first cup 26 and second cup 28 along the x-axis and/or z-axis when bra 20 is worn. Cup holder attachment features 42e and 42f define a second attachment region and are located on a portion of cup holder 40 that projects outwardly away from first cup 26 and second cup 28 along the x-axis and/or z-axis when bra 20 is worn. If replaceable cup unit 22 is laid out on a flat surface in an unfurled condition, attachment features 42a and 42b will project away from first and second cups 26 and 28 in a first direction along the x-axis, and attachment features 42e and 42f will project away from first and second cups 26 and 28 in a second direction along the x-axis that is opposite the first direction. When bra 20 is worn, cup holder attachment features 42a and 42b will be spaced apart from attachment features 42c and 42d in a direction along the z-axis, which generally conforms to the anterior-posterior axis of the human anatomy.
A close-up cross-sectional view of second cup 28 is provided in
The respective liquid impervious sides 31 and 33 of first cup 26 and second cup 28 face anteriorly away from the wearer's breasts when nursing bra 20 is donned by the wearer and also face away from back section 62 of support garment 24 in a direction along the z-axis. Thus, first cups 26 and 28 are designed to absorb liquids, such as discharged breast milk, while preventing the liquids from being transmitted through liquid impermeable sides 31 and 33, which protects the wearer's clothing from contact with discharged breast milk. In one example, first and second cups 26 and 28 include three layers of material: a first liquid permeable material comprising the respective sides 27 and 29 facing the breasts, a second liquid impermeable material comprising the respective sides 31 and 33 facing away from the breasts, and a third absorbent polymer fluff material 35 (not shown), 37 (shown in
In certain examples, the polymer fluff comprising the layer 35, 37 between the first liquid permeable layer 27, 29 and the second liquid impermeable layer 31, 33 comprises a super absorbent polymer, or SAP. In certain examples the liquid impermeable layer 31, 33 comprises a hydrophobic non-woven fabric. Suitable examples of liquid impervious materials include those made of polyalpha olefins, such as polyethylene or polypropylene.
As mentioned previously, the first and second cups 26 and 28 are shaped to generally conform to the shape of a woman's breast. In one example, heat pressing is used to form the cups 26 and 28 into the desired shape. Heat pressing may also be used to hold the various material layers (27, 31, 35 for first cup 26 and 29, 33, 37 for second cup 28) of the cups 26 and 28 together. The first and second cups 26 and 28 are also preferably fixedly attached to the cup holder 40 such as by sewing, gluing, or thermal bonding. In one preferred example, a hot-point calendaring thermal bonding process is used.
Referring to
First strap 44 includes a first strap attachment feature 56 disposed along its length. Correspondingly, second strap 46 includes a second strap attachment feature 59 disposed along its length. When support garment 24 is worn, first strap attachment feature 56 is spaced apart from second strap attachment feature 59 in a direction along the x-axis.
First strap 44 comprises a first shoulder strap region 48 and a first support strap region 52. In the example of
Second strap 46 comprises a second shoulder strap region 50 and a second support strap region 54. Second shoulder strap region 50 also intersects second support strap region 54 at or proximate the location of second strap attachment feature 59. Second support strap region 54 also progressively widens as its length is traversed in the y-axis direction from its point of attachment with second shoulder strap region 50 towards the anterior region 77 of bottom perimeter region 58. First support strap region 52 includes an outer boundary 53 and an inner boundary 55. Similarly, second support strap region 54 includes an outer boundary 63 and an inner boundary 57. The inner boundaries 55 and 57 are spaced apart by a distance along the x-axis direction that widens as the lengths of first and second support strap regions 52 and 54 are traversed in the y-axis direction starting from the anterior region 77 of the bottom perimeter section 58 and moving away from the bottom perimeter section 58.
The first and second support strap region inner boundaries 55 and 57 along with the anterior region 77 of bottom perimeter section 58 bound and define an open area which may be referred to as an anterior exposure region 74. When support garment 24 is donned, the wearer's breasts will be located in the anterior exposure region 74. In certain preferred embodiments, the region of the wearer's breasts between the nipples will be substantially fully exposed (if cup unit 22 is not attached) and unobstructed by the support strap regions 52 and 54. In other preferred examples, the support strap regions 52 and 54 will be tucked under and/or laterally outward of the breasts (i.e., away from the midline of the chest along the x-axis direction), so that the breasts will be substantially fully exposed. In certain examples, at least about 80 percent, more preferably at least about 85 percent, and even more preferably at least about 90 percent of the wearer's breast surface area will be fully exposed and not covered by support strap regions 52 and 54. Accordingly, when removable cup unit 22 is removably attached to support garment 24, the area between the wearer's nipples will be substantially fully exposed to (and covered by) the side of removable cup unit 22 facing toward the wearer along the z-axis direction. In certain examples, substantially the entirety of each breast will be fully exposed to (and covered by) one of the first and second cups 26 and 28. As a result, the portion of the nursing bra 20 that is most likely to be exposed to breast milk is the replaceable cup unit 22 and not the support garment 24, better ensuring that the disposable component of nursing bra 20 is most likely to be subject to liquid contact.
First shoulder strap region 48 and second shoulder strap region 50 extend over the wearer's shoulders when nursing bra 20 is worn. The region between the back panel 62 and the first and second support strap regions 52 and 54 along the direction of the z-axis defines open areas through which the wearer's arms may be placed. In certain examples, back panel 62 includes concave lateral boundaries 64 and 66 which are in facing opposition to another when bra 20 is worn.
In certain examples, nursing bra 20 is worn while sleeping. In such cases, it may be preferably to construct back panel 62 so that it does not include any mechanical fastening devices (snaps, buttons, zippers, etc.) that may press against the back and cause sleep disruptions. In the embodiment of
First strap attachment feature 56 is designed to removably engage and attach to first cup attachment feature 30 on replaceable cup unit 22. Correspondingly, second strap attachment feature 59 is designed to removably engage and attach to second cup attachment feature 32. In certain examples, first and second strap attachment features 56 and 59 are connecting devices, such as those formed from rigid plastics or metals. In the depicted example, first strap attachment feature 56 is a male attachment feature, and first cup attachment feature 30 is a female attachment feature. Similarly, second strap attachment feature 59 is a male attachment feature, and second cup attachment feature 32 is a female attachment feature. In certain examples, first strap attachment feature 56 is a hook, second strap attachment feature 59 is a hook, and the two hooks 56, 59 face away from one another along the x-axis direction. This configuration allows the user to disengage the first cup attachment feature 30 from the first strap attachment feature 56 by moving the first cup attachment feature 30 relative to the first strap attachment feature 56 in a direction along the x-axis away from the second cup 28. Similarly, second cup attachment feature 32 can be disengaged from second strap attachment feature 59 by moving second cup attachment feature 32 relative to second strap attachment feature 59 in a direction away from first cup 26. The cup attachment features 30 and 32 can be engaged to the corresponding strap attachment features 56 and 59 by moving them in the opposite direction relative to the strap attachment features 56 and 59.
Referring again to
Support garment 24 is preferably an elastic garment and more preferably is bidirectionally elastic (e.g., it can be stretched in the x- and y-axis directions and return to its original shape upon release). In one example, support garment 24 comprises an elastane material. In another example, support garment 24 comprises a composite of elastane and polyamide fibers. In one specific example, the amount of elastane fibers comprising support garment 24 is (by weight) at least about 4%, more preferably at least about 6%, and yet more preferably at least about 8%, with the balance being polyamide fibers. At the same time, support garment 24 comprises (by weight) no more than about 15%, preferably no more than 12%, and even more preferably no more than about 10% elastane fibers, with the balance being polyamide fibers. In one particular case, support garment 24 comprises (by weight) 91% polyamide fibers and 9% elastane fibers.
A method of nursing an infant using a nursing bra with a replaceable cup unit will now be described using the nursing bra 20 of
The first and second cups 26, 28 are formed from a cup material, and each of the first and second cups 26, 28 includes a respective cup attachment feature 30, 32 formed from one or more cup attachment feature fabrics. Suitable cup attachment feature fabrics include liquid impermeable fabrics, liquid permeable fabrics, hydrophobic non-woven fabrics, and hydrophilic non-woven fabrics. In certain examples, the cup attachment feature 30, 32 is formed from two fabrics, each of which may be any of the foregoing fabrics. In another example, the cup attachment feature 30, 32 is formed from the cup material. In one example, the cup unit 22 comprises two cups 26, 28, each of which has a liquid permeable layer 27, 29 and a liquid impermeable layer 31, 33. In another example, each cup comprises a super absorbent polymer fluff sandwiched between a liquid impermeable layer and a liquid impermeable layer. One suitable cup structure is the structure depicted in
The cup holder 40 comprises a fabric having a plurality of attachment features 42a-42f formed from a cup holder attachment feature fabric. In one example, the cup holder attachment fabric comprises elastic threads. In another example, the cup holder attachment feature fabric is the same as the cup holder fabric. In yet another example, the cup holder attachment feature fabric comprises the cup holder fabric, and the cup holder attachment features 42a-42f comprise openings formed through the cup holder fabric.
The support garment 24 used in the method comprises first and second straps 44, 46 and a bottom perimeter section 58. The method comprises attaching the first and second cup attachment features 30, 32 to a corresponding one of a first and second support garment strap attachment feature 56, 59. The method also comprises attaching each of the plurality of cup holder attachment features 42a-42f to a corresponding support garment bottom perimeter attachment feature 60a-60f. The method further comprises donning the nursing bra 20 such that the first cup 26 covers a first breast, and the second cup 28 covers a second breast. Nursing bra 20 may be donned by first attaching replaceable cup unit 22 to support garment 24 and then donning the assembled nursing bra 20. Alternatively, support garment 24 may first be donned, and then replaceable cup unit 22 may be attached to support garment 24 in the manner described previously.
The nursing bra 20 is placed above the head and pulled down so that the head enters the opening 61 bounded by support garment bottom perimeter section 58. Nursing bra 20 is then pulled down further so that the wearer's head projects upward (y-axis direction) away from the support garment bottom perimeter section 58. The arms are then projected through the arm openings defined by concave lateral back panel boundaries 64 and 66 and their respective straps 44 and 46. The support strap regions 52 and 54 are tucked underneath and laterally outside of the breasts so that the breasts are disposed in the anterior exposure region 74. In preferred examples, the area between the nipples is substantially fully exposed to and covered by the cup unit 22 (i.e., such that the support strap regions 52 and 54 are not between the breasts and the cup unit 22). At the same time or in other examples, the breasts are substantially fully exposed to and covered by a respective one of first and second cups 26, 28. In certain examples, at least 80 percent, preferably at least 85 percent, and more preferably at least 90 percent of the surface area of each breast is fully exposed to and covered by one of the cups.
To perform a nursing operation, cup attachment feature 30 is slid away from second cup 28 along hook 56 until it is separated therefrom, allowing the cup 26 to fall away from the breast, thereby exposing it for nursing an infant. In certain preferred embodiments, the first cup attachment feature 30 is detached from support garment strap attachment feature 56 without detaching cup holder 40 from support garment 24, which allows the bra to quickly be reassembled following nursing.
Nursing mothers may often experience unintended breast milk discharges while wearing nursing bra 20. As explained previously, the first and second cups 26 and 28 of nursing bra 20 are designed to absorb liquid from the breast without allowing it to pass through the cup. However, at some point it may become desirable to replace the replaceable cup unit 22 with a new replaceable cup unit, especially if one or both cups 26, 28 have become liquid saturated. In certain cases, replaceable cup unit 22 may be discarded and replaced on a daily basis. In accordance with one method, the replaceable cup unit 22 is detached from support garment 24 and disposed of. The absence of mechanical fasteners such as plastic or metal hooks, snaps, etc. allows the replaceable cup unit 22 to be readily disposed of A new replaceable cup unit 22 is then attached to the support garment 24. In one example involving the specific nursing bra 20 of
The present invention has been described with reference to certain exemplary embodiments thereof However, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that it is possible to embody the invention in specific forms other than those of the exemplary embodiments described above. This may be done without departing from the spirit of the invention. The exemplary embodiments are merely illustrative and should not be considered restrictive in any way. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents, rather than by the preceding description.