PROTECTIVE CUP AND BRA

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part of International Application No. PCT/NZ2024/050076, filed Jun. 25, 2024, entitled “PROTECTIVE CUP AND BRA,” which claims priority to New Zealand Application No. 801796 filed with the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand on Jul. 13, 2023, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

FIELD

This invention relates to a protective cup and bra including a pair of protective cups.

BACKGROUND

Inadequate impact protection for the breasts of girls and women is a deterrent to participation in some sports, such as soccer. A range of breast protectors and breast protecting bras are available but these are generally formed of a relatively stiff plastics material, such as low density polyethylene (LDPE), to provide impact protection for a user's breasts. Such relatively stiff materials can be uncomfortable and restrictive in terms of the duration of time that they may be comfortably worn and may limit a user's degree of motion.

These cups are ‘seated’ on the chest wall and this, combined with the use of relatively hard materials, transfers impact forces to the narrow boundary edge of the cup creating a high pressure and consequential pain to the ribs and area around the breast periphery. Such cups can cause injury or pain if they cut into the flesh towards the rib cage/sternum area. As a result, such products are not suitable for falling type incidents where a player may collide with the ground. Further, the rim geometry of such cups does not promote deformation to dissipate impact forces. Whilst this may be reduced by adding a cushioning material, this makes the product more cumbersome.

SUMMARY

According to one example embodiment there is provided a protective cup dimensioned to accommodate the breast of a user formed of an elastomer having a central region surrounded by peripheral edges with the peripheral edges being thinner than central region and providing a peak impact force reduction of at least 50%.

According to a further example embodiment there is provided a bra including a pair of such protective cups.

According to a further example embodiment there is provided a breast protector comprising a pocket including such a protective cup.

Embodiments may be implemented according to any one of the dependent claims.

It is acknowledged that the terms “comprise”, “comprises” and “comprising” may, under varying jurisdictions, be attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, these terms are intended to have an inclusive meaning—i.e., they will be taken to mean an inclusion of the listed components which the use directly references, and possibly also of other non-specified components or elements.

Reference to any document in this specification does not constitute an admission that it is prior art, validly combinable with other documents or that it forms part of the common general knowledge.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings which are incorporated in and constitute part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the general description of the invention given above, and the detailed description of embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a protective cup according to one example embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of the cup of FIG. 1 along the line A-A;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a bra according to one example embodiment suitable for use with the protective cup shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bra shown in FIG. 3 with the position of protective cups within the bra indicated in dashed line;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section view of a bra and protective cup shown in the previous drawings illustrating how fabric layers of the bra interact with a protective cup;

FIG. 6 illustrates how the bra of FIG. 5 conforms to the breast of user in use; and

FIG. 7 illustrates how the bra and cup combine to support and protect the breast of a user in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a protective cup 1 according to an example embodiment. The protective cup is generally teardrop shaped in plan view and is dimensioned to accommodate the breast of a user.

The cup can be formed of a thermoset plastics material. The cup can be formed of an elastomer. The elastomer can be polyurethane. The polyurethane can be Estane 92a.

The Shore A hardness of the material can be about 92. The modulus of elasticity of the material can be about 45 MPa. The rebound resilience of the material can be about 36%. Using such soft materials may seem surprising in an application requiring impact protection. However, through novel geometry a protective cup may be provided that provides the required impact protection whilst providing enhanced comfort, particularly around the edges of the protective cup.

The cup can be formed using a suitable moulding process. The cup can be of unitary form (i.e. a single moulded form not being of composite form). The cup can also be self-supporting.

The cup has recurved side walls 2 and reducing cup wall thickness from a central region 3 to peripheral edges 4. The thickness of the wall of cup 1 can taper from the central region 3 to the peripheral edges 4. The thickness of the peripheral edges can be less than 1.5 mm. In one example the thickness of the peripheral edges is about 1 mm. The thickness of the central region 3 can be greater than 1.5 mm. In one example the thickness of the central region 3 is about 2 mm.

The greater wall thickness of the central region 3 of the cup protects the breasts from painful impact.

The recurved sidewalls 2 and thin peripheral edges 4 of the cup promote deformation at the edges so as to spread and absorb impact forces progressively and avoid the peripheral edges digging in. The combination of this deformation and use of a softer material significantly enhances user's comfort.

Wing section 5 extends from the main breast containing region of the cup to distribute forces to provide additional dampening and locate the cup as described below.

A plurality of ventilation apertures 6 can be provided. The ventilation apertures 6 can be generally tear drop shaped. The ventilation apertures can be configured to promote deformation of the cup under impact.

The peripheral edges of the cup may have a textured surface to locate and retain the cup in position within a bra.

EXAMPLE

Tests were conducted on a cup formed of Estane 92a having a design of the form shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The thickness of the peripheral edges was about 1 mm and the thickness of the central region was about 2 mm. Tests were conducted with a soccer ball impacted the cup at speeds of between was 7.7-15.5 m/s. The peak force at 15.5 m/s was 113N. The protective cup reduced this peak impact force to 28.5N (an approximately 75% reduction of peak impact force). To provide useful protection the impact reduction should be at least 50%, preferably more than 66%, more preferably 75% or more.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a bra 7 suitable for use with the protective cup shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The protective cup 1 may be incorporated within a bra during manufacture or may be able to be inserted and removed from pockets in use. FIG. 4 illustrates an example where a pair of cups 1 are located within respective pockets 8 with the wing sections 5 oriented towards the side straps of the bra. As shown in FIG. 5, cup 1 is located within a pocket having an outer material layer 9 and an inner material layer 10. The inner material layer 10 can be a moisture wicking textile.

Each cup 1 can slide back and forth within its respective pocket 8, guided by the wing section 5 to maintain correct orientation and limit motion during impact. The end of the wing section is seated in the underarm pocket area and this limits the maximum extent of movement within a pocket and locates a cup during a glancing blow.

The inner material layer 10 creates an inner bra compression surface configured to suspend the cup away from the breast of a user like a “trampoline” to provide breast support in the manner of a compression bra. FIG. 6 illustrates how the breast of a user may be suspended away from the cup by inner material layer 10. This locates the cup in the manner of an external encapsulating bra, such that the protector is ‘floating’ on the breast without seating on the chest. The wing portion provides additional damping in that the wing can move inside the bra pocket, without friction with the skin, and is damped by deformation of the pocket. This arrangement also ensures good fit across a range of sizes, as it can accommodate variations in sizing and provide initial damping force during impact.

The combined effect of the softer cup material, the cup geometry and the bra pockets is that the absorption of the force of a blow is progressive over the duration of the impact, rather than being abrupt at the periphery of a cup (which can dig in to the chest of a user). In this way the breast itself distributes force and together with deformation of the softer material and the confining/resistive bra pocket until the peripheral edge has deformed and enlarged to reduce point impact forces. Further, a glancing blow is distributed rather than transferred to the edge.

While the present invention has been illustrated by the description of the embodiments thereof, and while the embodiments have been described in detail, it is not the intention of the Applicant to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art.

Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, representative apparatus and method, and illustrative examples shown and described. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departure from the spirit or scope of the Applicant's general inventive concept.