a. Technical Field
The instant disclosure relates to articles of clothing, including brassieres, and in particular, the instant disclosure relates to a post-surgical support brassiere, along with other brassieres, that can be adjusted for more or less support purposes.
b. Background Art
A brassiere or bra is an undergarment configured and designed to support a woman's breasts. Although seemingly simple in design, a brassiere is much more complicated and a typical brassiere design may have over 20 individual parts, including bands, hooks, cups, lining, and straps. Many mass-produced brassieres are manufactured to fit a standard sized woman, and the design assumes that both of the woman's breasts are equally sized and symmetrical in shape.
Support brassieres typically utilize underwire support structures located beneath the inframammary skinfold of the breasts at the juncture of women's breasts and her front thoracic torso to shape and support the breasts.
However, known brassieres may not adequately support the breasts in the appropriate position for post-surgical or general support needs. Accordingly, known brassieres may not allow for optimum surgical outcomes. For example, known brassieres may not properly prevent symastia, may not properly prevent dislocation of tissue or implants, and may not properly define the width of breast cleavage for post-surgical healing in the proper position.
As such there is a need for a brassiere that improves upon known brassieres, including post-surgical brassieres, by providing improved definition of the width of breast cleavage, improved prevention of inferior lateral dislocation of breast tissue or implants, improved definition of the lateral edge of the breast, and improved prevention of symastia following an implant procedure, among other benefits.
The foregoing is intended only to illustrate the present technical field and background art and should not be taken as a limitation or disavowal of claim scope.
In accordance with the present disclosure, an improved apparatus and method is disclosed for an article of clothing, such as a brassiere, for use as a post-surgical support brassiere, or any other brassiere, that can be adjusted for additional support purposes, as necessary.
An exemplary embodiment of article of clothing, such as a brassiere, may include a cup, a band configured to secure the cup to the body of a wearer of the article of clothing, and a rigid arcuate element having a lateral end and a central end and coupled to the cup so as to support the cup. The rigid arcuate element may be disposed under the cup so as to be adjustable relative to the cup, wherein the lateral end of the rigid arcuate element is adjustable so as to alter the tension applied to the body by the central end.
A brassiere according to the present disclosure may improve upon known brassieres, including post-surgical brassieres, by providing improved definition of the width of breast cleavage, improved prevention of inferior lateral dislocation of breast tissue or implants, improved definition of the lateral edge of the breast, and improved prevention of symastia following an implant procedure, among other benefits.
Additional objectives and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent to one having ordinary skill in the art after reading the specification in light of the drawing figures, however, the spirit and scope of the present invention should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein.
As stated herein, the objective of the present disclosure is to provide a detailed description of an apparatus and methods for an article of clothing, such as a brassiere, for use as a post-surgical support brassiere, or any other brassiere, that can be adjusted for additional support purposes, as necessary. As such, in the foregoing discussion, and in particular, the description of the preferred embodiment herein, is intended only to illustrate and explain these objectives and should not be taken as a disavowal of claim scope.
Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the same or similar features in the various views,
With reference to
The straps may include two or more sets of straps 18 extending straight vertically or in a diagonal (e.g., such that two diagonal straps 18 cross each other, such as straps 182, 183 of
The elastic envelope 12 may be configured to adjustably encircle a wearer's torso and may support the cups 16 and the rigid arcuate elements 20. The elastic envelope 12 may be coupled with the straps 18 so as to be vertically supported by the straps 18. Numerous coupling points may be provided on the elastic envelope for optionally attaching the straps 18 to different points on the elastic envelope 12, or for removing one or more straps 18 entirely.
In an embodiment, the elastic envelope 12 may include one or more pockets for receiving a rigid arcuate element and for maintaining the position of the rigid arcuate element with respect to a cup 16 so that the rigid arcuate element 20 may support the cup 16. For example, in an embodiment, the elastic envelope 12 may include a pocket under each cup 16. In an embodiment, the elastic envelope 12 may include a single continuous pocket extending under or about both cups 16 to receive a single monolithic rigid element having two arcuate portions.
One, two, or more rigid arcuate elements 20 may be provided to support the cups 16 and to properly position and shape the breasts, in an embodiment. For example, the rigid arcuate elements 20 may be configured to properly position and shape the breasts for post-surgical recovery. Each rigid arcuate element 20 may be configured for insertion into a pocket provided in the elastic envelope 12, in an embodiment. Additionally or alternatively, a rigid arcuate element 20 may be configured to be coupled to the elastic envelope 12 in some other fashion. A rigid arcuate element 20 may comprise a metallic or polymer wire, bar, or similar structure, in an embodiment.
Each rigid arcuate element 20 may be coupled with the elastic envelope 12 in such a fashion as to be adjustable relative to the envelope 12, to the cups 16, and/or to the wearer's body. For example, each rigid arcuate element 20 may be configured for adjustment to one of two or more positions, with the different positions providing different levels of support, different shapes for the breasts, different positions for the breasts, etc. Such adjustment is illustrated in and described with respect to
This adjustment may provide varying amounts of projection, upper pole fullness, and areola projection, in an embodiment. The lateral end 28 of the rigid arcuate element 20 may be secured to the elastic envelope 12 at a desired position with one or more fasteners (not shown), in an embodiment.
As illustrated in
Similar to the rigid arcuate element 20 described herein in association with
Further, the two interface layers 32 described above may be connected at their respective central ends 36 to create a single continuous, monolithic interface layer. Regardless of separate or continuous configuration, the interface layer may be or may include a firm material, such as Kevlar™ or a similar metallic material, or may be or include a fabric or other textile, in an embodiment.
The lateral portion 28 of the rigid arcuate element 20 (i.e., the portion visible in
The three different positions illustrated in
In an embodiment, two separate rigid arcuate elements 201, 202 may be provided, one associated with each cup 16. Such separate rigid arcuate elements 201, 202 may be separately adjustable, in an embodiment, and may separately apply pressure to the breastplate of the wearer. The rigid arcuate elements 201, 202 (i.e., the center end portions 26 of each) may be adjusted relative to each other to define a desired cleavage and central separation.
The central portion 26d of the monolithic rigid element may include a junction of two arcuate portions 341, 342, which central portion 26d may apply variable pressure to the wearer's breastplate (with a position of greater pressure illustrated in
Reference throughout the specification to “various embodiments,” “some embodiments,” “one embodiment,” or “an embodiment”, or the like, means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in various embodiments,” “in some embodiments,” “in one embodiment,” or “in an embodiment”, or the like, in places throughout the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.
Further, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Thus, the particular features, structures, or characteristics illustrated or described in connection with one embodiment may be combined, in whole or in part, with the features structures, or characteristics of one or more other embodiments without limitation given that such combination is not illogical or non-functional. Although numerous embodiments of this invention have been described above with a certain degree of particularity, those skilled in the art could make numerous alterations to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure.
All directional references (e.g., plus, minus, upper, lower, upward, downward, left, right, leftward, rightward, top, bottom, above, below, vertical, horizontal, clockwise, and counterclockwise) are only used for identification purposes to aid the reader's understanding of the present disclosure, and do not create limitations, particularly as to the position, orientation, or use of the any aspect of the disclosure.
As used herein, the phrased “configured to,” “configured for,” and similar phrases indicate that the subject device, apparatus, or system is designed and/or constructed (e.g., through appropriate hardware, software, and/or components) to fulfill one or more specific object purposes, not that the subject device, apparatus, or system is merely capable of performing the object purpose. Joinder references (e.g., attached, coupled, connected, and the like) are to be construed broadly and may include intermediate members between a connection of elements and relative movement between elements. As such, joinder references do not necessarily infer that two elements are directly connected and in fixed relation to each other. It is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not limiting. Changes in detail or structure may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
Any patent, publication, or other disclosure material, in whole or in part, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein is incorporated herein only to the extent that the incorporated materials does not conflict with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth in this disclosure. As such, and to the extent necessary, the disclosure as explicitly set forth herein supersedes any conflicting material incorporated herein by reference. Any material, or portion thereof, that is said to be incorporated by reference herein, but which conflicts with existing definitions, statements, or other disclosure material set forth herein will only be incorporated to the extent that no conflict arises between that incorporated material and the existing disclosure material.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/160,162, filed May 12, 2015, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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2701879 | Bennett | Feb 1955 | A |
2880732 | Smith | Apr 1959 | A |
3312223 | Wilson | Apr 1967 | A |
5527202 | Morgan | Jun 1996 | A |
5967876 | Kollmanthaler | Oct 1999 | A |
7824242 | Perman | Nov 2010 | B2 |
8747185 | Evans, Sr. | Jun 2014 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20170006927 A1 | Jan 2017 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62160162 | May 2015 | US |