Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
108915Z
~, B~ChGROUND OF TEIE INVE~JTl:O~ .
~, The present invention re].ates to brassieres.
ile many different types of brassieres axe presently .
, available, up to the present time all of. the known brassieres
1 suf~er from certain dr~lbac~s. Thus, while a brassier should
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~I give the wearer the capability of holding the breasts .in place,
at the same time the brassieres should give to the wearer
, considerable comfort and freedom of movement.
!~ However, it has been found from experience that with
the conventional brassieres there is an unavoidable creation
~? of considerable discomfort due to various types of body movements !
carried out by the wearer o~ the conventional brassieres. Thus,
~. as a result o arm movements such as upward or lateral arm
; . Ii movemen~s, conventional brassieres unavoidably slip with respect ~-:
' to the body, as a result of certain types of kody movements, so
that conventional brassieres unavoidably ride upwardly along the
.3body or slip laterally along the body. The result is that the .
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lower edge region of a conventional brassiere does not remain ¦ .
, at the xegion of the location where it was in-itially placed. I
,',.Thus, conventional brassieres unavoidably creep up beneath the j .
jbreasts and shift laterally along the 10Wer portions o~ the ¦~
breasts, or a combina ion o~ thes2 shifting ~ovemen-~s take place, 1
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.thUs creating a considerable amo~lnt o~ disco~ort and pxeven~ing
the conventional brassieres frc~. fulfillin~ their intended
functions.
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SU~RY OF THE INVENTI ON
It is accordingly a prlmary obje~t of the.present
invention to provide a bxassiere ~hich will avoid ~he above
rawbac};s.
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Thus, it is an object of the present inven~ion to
provide a brassiere ~ith the capability of remaining at its
' lot~Jer portion sui~stantially at the location in which this
i; lower portion was initially situated, even though t~ wearer of
I ~ the brassiere carries out all types of body and arm movements.
!l At the same time, it is an object of the pxe~ent
- ~1 invention to pxovide a brassiere which will, while ulfilling
the above objects, nevextheless give the wearer of the brassiere
1~ a considerable amount of reedom of movement and considerable
10 1 comfort, ~Ihile still maintaining the breasts relatively in ;
; ~1l place.
ii It is moreover an object of the present invention
I ~i to provide a brassiere which can achieve the above objects while
¦, at the same time being relativel~ inexpensive and cxeating no
particular discomort to the skin which is engaged by ~he
brassiere. ¦~
,j In accordance with the invention the brassiere has a
pair o~ cups, opposed side portions connectea to and extending
1~ laterally fro.~ the cups, with the latter being situated between 1-
20 li these side poxtions, and a pair o~ back portions w~ich respective-
ly extend ~ m the side porti~ns and terminate in free ends. i,
A pair of shoulder straps extend rom upper parts of the back
portions to upper parts of the cups. A pair of astener portions
are fixed to the free ends of -the ba~k portions ana for~ a
releasable ~astener means for fastening the brassiere on the
wearer on the back of the wearer. The cups as well as the side
~ and bac~; portions all have lower regions distribu~ea along the
¦~ botto~ of the brassiere. In accordance with the particular
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I¦ fea~ure Ojc the invention there is an elongated continuou T ,
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stretch band which is fi~ed to and extend3 continuousl,y along
' the lo ~r regions o~ the cups as ~ell as the si~e and back
, portions, this stretch band erminating in free ends which are
'~ res~ectively fixed to the ~astener portions. Thus the stretch
3, band is in a s~rek~ed condition when t'ne brassiere is worn with
the fastener portions attached to each other, ~s a result of
, this construction, the stretch band serves to anchor the brassiere
I', to the body o~ the ~7earer so as to oppose undesirable displace~en~
,~ of the 'brassiere due to lateral or vertical movements of the body,¦
' or combinations of such movemenLs.
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~i BRIEF ~ESCP~IPTIO~ OF DRA~ GS
~i - The invention is illustrated b,y wa~ of exam~le in Lhe
; ', accompanying drawings which form part of this applic2tion and ,'
, ~ in whi~h: ~ t
, ~1 -FIG. 1 shoT.rs a brassiere of the invention in a front ,
,~ elevation view with the rear portinns of the brassiere exLendin~ ,
, ~ 1~ outwardly from the side portions thereof so as to more clearly
;~illustrate the details of the brassier ol- the invention; ',
20 ~' FIG. 2 shows the brassiere of FIG~ 1 in a condition
'~where the bras~iere has been laterally stretched 'beyond the
3i condition thereof shown in FIG. l;
, FIG. 3 illustrates the 'brassier o~ ~IG. 1 in a con~ition
~here the brassiere 'nas been ver-ti~all~ stretched behond the
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condition thereof sho~m in FIG~ l; and '-
, ~ ~ FIG. ~ is a fragmentary section taken along line 4-4 ~1 !
or FIG. 3 in the dir~ction of the arrows and showing a~ an '''
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enlarged scale, as com~axed to ~IG. 3, ho~,~ the s-tretch band of
,the invention is fixed to the brassiere. 3
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l,DESCRIPT~ON OF A PREFE~RED EMBODI~ENT
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I'Referring now to FIG. 1, the brassiere 10 of the
- invention illustrated therein includes a pair of cups 12a and
j 12b lhich have, respectively, outer side edge regions fixed,
" as by suitable stitching, ~o stretchable side portions 14a and
i 14b~ xespectively. These stretchable side portions form
,¦ extensions of and are integral with a pair of stre~chable back I
portions 16a and 16b which normally are-situated at tne back
' of the wearer but which are illustrated in FIG. 1 extending .
~ laterally beyond the side portions 14a and 14b, so as to more
clearly illustrate the structure of the inventinn. The brassiere
1, l
- also includes a pair of snoulder straps 20a and 20b respectively ¦
~ixed to and extending from upper parts of the bacX portionsl~a
~ and 16b and also being aajustably connected to upper parts of
: ,~ the cups 12a and 12b, by way of known clips 22a.and 22b, these I .
clips being permanently connected tnth the upper parts of the
cups and haviny portions through which end xegions of the shouldex
straps are looped so as to be fi~ed to the clips in an adjustable
~j manner as is well kno~m~ ~
il A pair of fastener portions 24a and 24b are respectively !
" fixed to free ends of the bacX portions 16a and 16b, these
fas~ener portions orming a fastener means for releasably ~astening~
the brassiere on the weaxex at the bacX of the wearer. Thus the
~ fastener portion 24a carries at lts side which is not visible ~ ¦
:~ in ~IG. 1 hooks to be received in a selected one of a plurality
, :
: ~ of rows o~ eyes of the ~asLener portion 24b, so that in ~his
. ~ well ~;nown manner it is posslble to provide an adjustable fastener'~
means for releasably fastening the brassie~ on the body of the
~: ~ wearer.
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The cups 12a and 12b, as well as the sicle portions l~a,
14~s a;id bacX portions 16a, 16b, all have lower re~ions to which, ~
in accordance with the invention, an eloncJatea continuous stretch ! :
band 26 is fixed. This elonyate~ continuous stretch 'band is
made or any well kno~m longitudinally s~ixetchable ribbon~type
of sheet material, and it will be seen ~rom FI~. 1 that the
stretch band 26 e~tends continuously along the lo~er regions o
the cups as well as the side and back portions, The stretch
band 26 terminates in a pair of fre~e ends ~Jhich are respectively
i~ fi~ed to the fastener poxtion 24a and 24b as illustra-ted.
FIG. 4 illustrates in particular how the atretch bana
26 is fixed to the remainder of the brassiere. Thus, the stretch~ ~
band 26 has an upper edge region wnich overlaps a lower edge I ~-
xegion of ~he cups, side, and back portions, the stretch band
26 being shown in ~IG. 4 at a part thereof which overlaps a
art of the side portion 14b, although it is tcSs be understood 1.
that the same construction will be found along ~'ne entire botto~
o~ the brassiere. Thus, the stretch band 26 where it overlaps
the bo~tom xe~ion of t'ne 'brassiere is, for exa.nple, stitc'ned to
the various parts distributed along the bottom o~ the'brassiere
by lines of stltchin~ 28, thus leavi~ along the bottom of t~e ~ ¦
brassiere a continuous uninterrupted portion of the band 26
which is '~ee to stretch and contract. O course ~he side !
portinns 14a, 14b and bac~ portions 16a, 16b, are also ma~e o~
a strekcha~le elastic sheet makerial so tha~ these portio~s-of
the brassiere~can~stre~ch and contract together~with the
stretch band 26. : ' t
The ~articular brass.iere whicn is illustrated is
oj' a type similar to that wl-~ic;n is sho~n in U~S~ patent 3,545,a~5-~
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,' Thus, the cups 12a and 12b respectively have not only the outer .
side ed~e rec~ions t~Jhich are respectively ~ixed wi-th the side
. portions 14a and 14b but also inner side edge reg.ions which
are adjacent each other. These inner side edge xegions of th2
`, cup have uppex edge sections 30a and 30b which conv2rge downwardl~
~; toward each other and lower edge sections 32a an~ 32b which
diverge dow~rardly at~a~ from each other. The u~per edge section
30~ of the cup 12a forms a continuation.o~ the lower e~ge section
, 32b of the cup 12b, ti7nile the up~er edge section 30~ of the cu.p
10 i' 12b ~orms a continuation of a lower edge section 32a of the cu~
. 12a, and these continuous edge sections are made o~ an elastic
stretchable material. I-t will be noted that the bo~tom .ends
of these edge sections are fixed also to the stretch band 26.
! ~
: ,. These continuous edge sections of the inner side regions of the
~, cups of course cross each other as illustrated in~the dxat~Lng,
: , and at the region where they cross each other they are separate
. l~ from each other, in the manner shown in greater detail in the t
: 'i, a'~ove U.S. patent 3,545,4a5. As a result o~ this eature while
~; ~ll the breasts are maintained ~irml~ in place, nevertheless there
I ~:20 ¦¦ is a considerable freedom oS movement and considerable comfort. ,~
". The illustrated brassiere 10 also includes a substantially~
. triangular body 3~ oi s-tretchable sheet materiàl~ This body 34
; ~.~is s~itched to the ed~e sections 32a an~ 32b, while extending
.; therebet~7een. This hod~ of sheet ~aterial 34 has a 10~7er region
hich is also stitched to the stretch band 26
:~hus, while the above-desc.ribed brassiere will achieve
~- all of the advantages o~ the b:~assiere as shown in U.S. - .
patent 3,545,a~5, it t~7ill also ~rovide addit;onal advantages as
is aL~parent from a comparison o~ FIG. 1 w.ith FIGS. 2 and 3. Thus,~.
the stretch ~and 25 o the brassiere o~ the invention will serve
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reliably to anchor the brassiere to t'nc body of ~he w~arer,
keeping the breasts in place ~hen the ~earer moves, hends, or
raises her arm3.
r~hus, when ~'7itll a conventional bras.siere the ~Jearer
throws her shoulders bac};, the tendency i.s for the cups to
move apart fro~ each o,ner, thus causincJ the upper parts of the
cups also LO rnove apart from each othex with the result that
a con~entional brassiere necessarily ~ields in such a way that
the lower part of such a conventional brassiere moves upwardly.
O* course, if the wearer of a conventional brassiexe raises her
arms, then also the entire brassiere will ride upwardly on the
body o~ the wearer. ~lhen under these conditions the wearer o li
a conventional brassiere returns the body to its normal positio~, !
the conventional brassiere does not return to the position from
hich it has been displaced, so that the brassiere stays in the
position to which it has slipped u~wardl~, ~Jith the result that
considerable discom*ox~ is encountered and the brassiere gathers
together benea-th the breasts at a locacion displaced upwardly
~ro~ its initial location.
20 ,~ In contrast, with the brassiere o~ the invention i*
body movements such as t'nrowing back of the shoulders tend to
stretch the brassiere horizontally at its ~ront part, the
stretch band 26 will respond by stretching so as to assume,
or exa-.lple, a condition as illustrat~d in ~IG~ 2 ~.J~ere the
stretch band has become elongated and *urther stretched to ~-
provide between the fastener por~ions the distance L' wnich is
greater than the distance L shown in FIG. 1. Thus, as such
: ~
. ~ stretching talies place the stretcn band of the invention grips
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the hody ~lith a greatex fo-ce and oppOSe5 any tendency o~ the
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brassiere l:o ride u~ th~ body of the ~earer while a-c the same .
time yivincf t'ne bra~ssiere the capability o contractin~ back
co its conaition sho~n in FIG. 1 whcn t-he ~learer resumPs the
:' normal body ~osition.
,i I:E the t~earer should, for ex~nple, raise her arms,
jj then a condition as sho~7n in FIG. 3 will be provided. Thus, it
will be noted in FIG. 3 ~hat the discance ~' fxo.~ the tops of
il the cups ~o the bottom e~ge o~ the stretch band is ~reater than
' the distance H indicated in FIG. 1. Thus in this case also
. because of the elastic gripping of the body by the stretch -
band, the stretch band 26 will oppose any tendency of the
i brassiere to ride upwardly along the body, and instead it is
the up~ex regions of the side portions 14a, particularly at
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their narrow parts ~'nich extend along the upper outer side
. edge regions of the cup ~hich yield, the bottom o~ the~brassiere ,;
remaining in a substantially unc'nanyed position and at its
initial location, as is apparent fro~ a comparison of F~GS. 1 ¦
, and 3. Thus, in th.is case also ~hen the shoulders are lowered
'~ in response to downward movement of t'ne arms, when the wearer
~ 20 ~ resumes a normal position, the bottor?. o~ the brassier has not
; ~ shifted from its initial posi-tion s.ince it was retained in this
position by the elas'cic s~retch band 26 of the invention,
~; ; Instead it is the upper elastic side porcions l~a and 14b ~Yhich
contract while the brassiere returns to its initial condi-tion.
of course part OI this stretchiny to provide the condition
`-; illustrated in FIG . 3 is alsQ ta,~en up by -the elastic back
portion lGa and 16h. However, the imporcant ,-eature of the
~ invention is that t';le continuous 5tretch band 26 serves to !:
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' m~in~:ain the botto~ o:E ~he brassiere in a substantially unchanged
`~ location irrespective of movernents o~ the body ~7hich might
j resul-. in condi~ions as i.llustrated in FIGS 2 and 3 ox in
', combinations of the movements which rnight result in combinations
i~ of these conditions. Thus il the wearer raises only one arm ..
or in co~bination with raising one arm should twist the body
about the waist, or i any other ~.ovemen-ts, such as ~ending
movemen~s are made either by themselves or in combination wit'n
~1 other movements, nevertheless the brassiex~of the invention will ~
1 effectively remain substantially at its initial location so as ¦ :
to avoid any possible discomLort which might result irom
riding up of the brassiere.
; It is particularly to be noted that the elastic i~
~ , stretch band 26 os the invention is a xelati~ely inexpensive
- 1~ co.~ponent which nee~ only be con-tinuously stitched to the lower i~
', part o~ the brassiere, so that the stretch band of the invention ~-
1l can be joined to the remainder of t~,e brassiere at a very low
:~ li cost. Thus from the standpoint o~ materials as well as labor
the cost of the brassiere is hardly increasea by provi~ing the
20 ! brassiere with the structure of the invention~
~ Furthermore, as is pa~ticulaxly apparent ~rom F~G. 4,
; when the brassiere is worn the stretch band 26 will create no
particulax discomfoxt particula~iy at the s~in of the wearer.
0~ course the stretch band 26 of the brassiere o~ ¦
.
. the invention need not necessarily be used only with a brassiexe '. :
o the type illustrated and sho~7n in the above U.5. patent
3,5a5,~45~ l~nile the stAretch band o~ the invention does indeed
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present certain advantages when used wi-th this par-iicular tyDe
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,~ o br~ssiere, because in e~:fect ihe portion of th~ stretch band .
26 e~iending to tlle riyht in FIG. 1 beyond the edge section 32b
forms an extension of the latter, while the portion of the
strctch band extellding to the left be~ond the edge section 32a
forms an extension o~ this edge section, nevertheless the
¦ stretch band of the invention can be used ~Jith many di~ferent
; types o brassleres, even those which do no~ necessarily have
j, the details of the particular brassiere shown in the arawing~.
¦J It is preferred, ho~,Jever, to use the stretch band of the
10 , in~ention with this paxticular type of brassiere because with
j~ this particular construction when the upper edge sec-tion 30a
il is stretched, this stretc'niny is transmitted without interruption
j', from the section 30a along the section 32b and then along the
~, lo~Jer right portion of the stretch band 26 in FIG. 1 where it
. extends to the right beyond the lo~er edge section 32b o~ the
" rigllt cup 12b of FIG. 1. In the same way stretching of ~he
'~ upper edge section 30b will be transmittea along the lower
¦l edge section 32a of the left cup OL FIG, 1 ~ro~ thls lower
.I jl edge section 32a alon~ the part of ihe stretch band 26 which 3
20 !¦ extends from this lower ed~e section 32a all the way up ~o the
1.3, fastener portion 24a. Thus with this particular ~pe of
'~ brassiere the stre-tch ~and 26 is of particular advantage because ~
it permits the independent stretching o~ the inner edge sections !
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o~ the cups to be transmitted continuously all the way up to li
the ~astener portions.
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