Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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CLOTHING INSERT
The present invention relates to a clothing insert and in particular to an
insert for use by women to prevent their clothes riding up and to
camouflage the external appearance of their pubic region or external
genitalia.
When women wear tight clothing or underwear it can be a problem that the
clothing "rides up" in the pubic region creating an unsightly profile,
clinging
to the contours of their body. This is a particular problem for tight fitting
sportswear and swimwear and for fashionable clothing which is specifically
cut to be tight fitting or to fit in a particular manner around the lower body
region. In these cases, even when the clothing is correctly fitted, women
may still be faced with the problem of the clothing clinging to the pudendal
cleft resulting in embarrassment for the wearer, as well as discomfort in
some cases.
To try and avoid this, women may select looser fitting clothing or wear
clothing that is too large. However, this is not ideal as, particularly for
clothing such as swimwear and sportswear, the functionality of the
garment can be affected if the clothing is ill-fitting. Furthermore, fashion
conscious individuals will often wish to purchase and wear tightly fitting
clothing to project a particular image, which would be spoiled if the
clothing was incorrectly sized.
Attempts have been made to address this problem, particularly for
underwear, by providing various arrangements of elastic loops or straps
on the articles which act to tauten the clothing in the pubic area to prevent
it from "riding up", however these arrangements tend to be both
uncomfortable and unsightly and often do not fulfil their required function.
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The present invention aims to mitigate or obviate some or all of the
problems discussed above.
Throughout the description, the front of the insert is taken to be the part of
the insert which, in use, is positioned toward the front of the user and the
rear of the insert is taken to be the part of the insert which, in use, is
positioned toward the back of the user.
The upper surface of the insert is the surface that will be closest to the
user's genitalia in use, with the lower surface being on the opposing side.
According to the present invention there is provided a clothing insert
adapted to be worn under clothing which, in use, covers the wearers
external genitalia resulting in a smooth outer profile, characterised in that
the insert is more rigid transversely than it is longitudinally thus allowing
greater flexibility of movement longitudinally than transversely.
Advantageously an insert which is more flexible longitudinally than
transversely is more comfortable for the user and is able to fit more closely
to the wearer's body whilst maintaining its function and providing a smooth
outer profile.
Optionally the cross section of the insert is more curved towards the rear
of the insert than the front of the insert.
The shape of the cross section of the insert changes as you travel along
the length of the insert with a wider and flatter cross section provided
toward the front of the insert and a narrower and more curved cross
section provided toward the rear of the insert.
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In one option the insert is formed with multiple layers.
Preferably the insert is provided with an elongate upper layer and an
elongate lower layer, wherein the upper layer is wider than the lower layer.
Preferably the upper layer is formed from a more flexible material than the
lower layer.
Advantageously this means that the edges are soft and flexible, providing
comfort to the wearer of the insert and allowing for users of different body
sizes.
Optionally the insert may be provided with an outer surround or coat and a
central or inner core.
Preferably the outer surround is a silicone material.
Preferably the inner core is a plastic material.
Most preferably the inner core is a more rigid material than the outer
surround.
Optionally the inner core is shaped to run longitudinally through the insert
and be wider in some sections than in others.
Providing the core in this manner means that the insert will still be flexible
along its length but wider sections will cause the insert to be more rigid, or
more stiff, across its width.
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Another option is that the inner core is provided as a plurality of elongate
elements positioned transversely along the width of the insert.
The elongate elements may be conjoined by a strip running longitudinally
along the length of the insert.
The insert may be provided with a means for affixing the insert to a
wearer's clothing.
Preferably the insert is provided with means for affixing on its lower
surface.
Most preferably the insert is provided with an adhesive strip on its lower
surface.
The adhesive strip may be provided with a protective cover that can be
peeled off prior to the user attaching the insert to their clothing.
Alternatively the insert may be provided with means for improved
adherence to a user's body.
The upper surface of the insert may be formed from a silicone material
adapted to adhere to skin.
Preferably the insert is provided with means for ventilation.
Optionally the means for ventilation are apertures running through the
insert from the upper to the lower surface.
Preferably the insert is formed from hypoallergenic materials.
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In order to provide a better understanding of the present invention,
embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, and with
reference to the following drawings in which;
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Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an insert according to
a first embodiment of the present invention; and
Figure 2 is a cross section view of an insert according to a first
embodiment of the present invention; and
Figure 3 is a side view of an insert according to a first embodiment of the
present invention; and
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a partial torso showing the positioning of
the insert in use; and
Figure 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the insert of the
present invention; and
Figure 6A and 6B are cross section views of a second embodiment of the
insert according to the present invention; and
Figure 7 is a plan view of a further embodiment of the invention.
In a first embodiment of the present invention, as generally depicted in
figure 1, there is provided an insert 1 that is adapted to be worn under
clothing (as indicated in figure 4) to cover the outer profile of a woman's
pudendal cleft or external genitalia. The insert 1 is provided as a relatively
thin silicone and polyurethane pad which is shaped to generally conform to
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a user's pubic region. The insert is wider and flatter at the front 1a and
narrower and more curved at the rear 1b, which has been found to
improve the comfort of the wearer.
The insert 1 is provided with an upper layer 2, which is made from a
moulded silicone, and which is both soft for comfortable positioning
against the wearer's body, and hypoallergenic. The upper layer 2 is
adapted to be worn closest to the user's external genitalia.
The insert 1 also has a lower layer 3 attached to and positioned below the
upper layer 2. The lower layer 3 is a semi flexible polyurethane material
which has more rigidity than the silicone upper layer 2. This allows the
insert 1 to retain more flexibility longitudinally than across its width (as
shown in figure 3). The lower layer is narrower than the upper layer such
that there is an overhanging skirt 4 of softer upper layer on either side of
the insert 1 (as can be seen in figures 1 and 2). As the edges of the skirt 4
will come into contact with a wearer's groin region and in particular the
area or groin fold at the top of a wearer's legs, it is useful to have some
flexibility to allow for differing body shapes. The soft edges 4 also ensure
that the insert 1 does not rub against a wearer's skin during movement
such as walking or running. The insert 1 is further provided with apertures
which act as ventilation holes 5. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1 the
ventilation holes 5 extend through the lower layer 3 only, however they
can also extend through the upper layer 2 if required.
It could be envisaged that the upper and lower layers may be formed from
different materials, however the upper layer in this embodiment would be
formed from a more rigid material than the lower layer. In order to
facilitate the fixing of the insert 1 to a wearer's clothing, for example to
the
inside of a swimsuit or underwear, the lower surface of the insert (i.e. the
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opposing side to the upper layer) is provided with an adhesive strip 6.
Prior to use the adhesive strip can be provided with a peel off backing, the
type of which is generally known in the art. Typically this type of insert 1
would be a single use disposable insert. It could be envisaged that
alternative types of insert may be provided for re-use, however these
typically would not be provided with an adhesive strip and instead may
simply be held in place between the users inner thighs. Re-usable
versions of the insert would generally be formed from washable materials.
An alternative and preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in
figures 5 and 6A/B. In this embodiment, rather than providing an upper
layer and lower layer as previously, the insert 10, is instead provided with
a plastic inner core 30 surrounded by a silicone outer coat 20 (shown in
figures 6A and 6B). The insert 10 as a whole is generally only 2-3mm
thick with the inner core being approximately 1 mm thick. The inner core
30 is selected to be more rigid/less flexible than the surrounding coat. The
plastic may be, for example, polyethylene, polyurethane or polypropylene.
It is also envisaged that the inner core could also be a silicone material
rather than a plastic, however it would be a more rigid (or less flexible)
silicone than the outer coat material. The plastic core 30 is shaped such
that it has an elongate central trunk 17 with branches 18 extending from
the trunk 17 at regular intervals across the width of the insert 10. The
thinner areas of the core 30 allow for flexibility along the length of the
insert 1 whilst the wider sections provide more rigidity across the width of
the insert 10. Figures 6A and 6B show cross sections of in insert 10 of
this type at two different points. The shape of the cross section changes
as you move along the length of the insert 10, being wider and flatter at
the front to fit across the pubic symphysis area. Again the insert 10 will
have more flexibility longitudinally than across its width in the region of
the
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inner core (although the edges of the insert 10 that are closest to a
wearer's legs will be entirely outer coat so will be comfortable).
Alternative and preferred shapes for the core 300 could be envisaged,
shown for example in figure 7. The inner core 300 will generally be an
elongate shape extending from the back to front of the insert 100. In
preferred embodiments the inner core 300 will interconnect with the outer
coat. As discussed above the inner core may be branched, however, as
shown in fig 7, there may only be small, irregular areas between branches
which may be filled with outer coat 200 material. Irregular branches have
the added benefit of holding the inner core 300 securely within the outer
coat 200.
Various modifications and variations to the described embodiments of the
invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from
the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Although
the invention has been described in connection with specific preferred
embodiments, it should be understood that the invention as claimed
should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiment.
