Underwire for a brassiere and a brassiere incorporating same

Abstract

An underwire for a brassiere comprises an elongate, substantially u-shaped body having a chest-engaging portion and a breast-engaging portion. The underwire is constructed from a unitary piece of plastic material. The chest-engaging portion and the breast-engaging portion are connected together along their lengths in a dogleg-shaped configuration, with, in an embodiment, an angle of between 110° and 140° with respect to each other. The breast-engaging portion has a shorter length dimension than the chest-engaging portion and thereby leaves a substantially flat chest-engaging portion at each end of the elongate body. In embodiments, these flat ends of the chest-engaging portion are rounded or thinned compared to the remainder of the chest-engaging portion. The configuration provides good support to the wearer's breast, increases comfort, and is less likely to injure than other configurations.

Claims

1. An underwire of a brassiere having a pair of cups, the underwire comprising: an elongate substantially u-shaped body having: a chest-engaging portion terminating in two ends, the two ends being substantially flat chest-engaging portions, one substantially flat chest-engaging portion being configured to lie substantially flat along a wearer's sternum and the other substantially flat chest-engaging portion being configured to lie substantially flat along a side of a wearer's breast; and a breast-engaging portion connected to the chest-engaging portion along the entire length of the breast engaging portion, the breast-engaging portion extending outwardly from the chest-engaging portion at an obtuse angle, and the breast-engaging portion having two ends; the breast-engaging portion having a shorter length dimension than the chest-engaging portion and being connected intermediate and spaced apart from the ends of the chest-engaging portion; the breast-engaging portion having a lowermost region configured to be positioned below a wearer's breast; both of the substantially flat chest-engaging portions projecting toward a wearer's back and away from the lowermost region of the breast-engaging portion; and wherein the substantially flat chest-engaging portions are angled with respect to each other, and the body-facing surface of the one substantially flat chest-engaging portion is offset from the body-facing surface of the other substantially flat chest-engaging portion by an angle of between 100 to 150 degrees; and wherein the underwire is configured to be mounted in one of the cups.

2. The underwire of claim 1 wherein the breast-engaging portion tapers inwardly towards the chest-engaging portion at each end of the breast-engaging portion adjacent one of the substantially flat chest-engaging portions.

3. The underwire of claim 2 wherein the breast-engaging portion tapers inwardly towards the chest-engaging portion over a length of up to 0.02 meters.

4. The underwire of claim 2 wherein the ends of the elongate body are rounded.

5. The underwire of claim 2 wherein the ends of the chest-engaging portion beyond the breast-engaging portion reduce in thickness towards the ends of the elongate body.

6. The underwire of claim 1 wherein the ends of the elongate body are rounded.

7. The underwire of claim 1 wherein the ends of the chest-engaging portion beyond the breast-engaging portion reduce in thickness towards the ends of the elongate body.

8. The underwire of claim 1 wherein the breast-engaging portion forms an angle of between about 110° and about 140° with the chest-engaging portion.

9. The underwire of claim 1 further being constructed from a unitary piece of plastic material.

10. The underwire of claim 9 wherein the plastic material includes polyurethane.

11. The underwire of claim 9 wherein the plastic material includes polyamide.

12. The underwire of claim 9 wherein the plastic material includes polyoxymethylene.

13. The underwire of claim 9 wherein the plastic material includes polyetheretherketone.

14. A brassiere comprising: a pair of cups, each of the cups including an outer layer and having an underwire mounted internal to the outer layer, the underwire comprising: an elongate substantially u-shaped body having: a chest-engaging portion terminating in two ends, the two ends being substantially flat chest-engaging portions, one substantially flat chest-engaging portion being configured to lie substantially flat along a wearer's sternum and the other substantially flat chest-engaging portion being configured to lie substantially flat along a side of a wearer's breast; and a breast-engaging portion connected to the chest-engaging portion along the entire length of the breast engaging portion, the breast-engaging portion extending outwardly from with the chest-engaging portion at an obtuse angle, and the breast-engaging portion having two ends; the breast-engaging portion having a shorter length dimension than the chest-engaging portion; the breast-engaging portion having a lowermost region configured to be positioned below a wearer's breast; both of the substantially flat chest-engaging portions projecting toward a wearer's back and away from the lowermost region of the breast-engaging portion; and wherein the substantially flat chest-engaging portions are angled with respect to each other, and the body-facing surface of the one substantially flat chest-engaging portion is offset from the body-facing surface of the other substantially flat chest-engaging portion by an angle of between 100 to 150 degrees.

15. The brassiere of claim 14, each of the cups including an inner layer, wherein the underwire is sandwiched between the inner layer and the outer layer.

16. The brassiere of claim 14 having a tubular channel, wherein the underwire is positioned in the tubular channel.

17. The brassiere of claim 14 comprising fabric, wherein at least one of the ends of the elongate body is stitched to the fabric.

18. The brassiere of claim 14 being a sports brassiere.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will now be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a front view of an underwire;

(3) FIG. 2 is a top view of the underwire;

(4) FIG. 3A is an enlarged left side view of the underwire, and FIG. 3B is an enlarged right side view of the underwire;

(5) FIG. 4 is an isometric view of the underwire;

(6) FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of a brassiere incorporating the underwire and shown in use;

(7) FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view along line VI-VI of FIG. 1;

(8) FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view along line VII-VII of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(9) Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4 inclusive, there is shown an underwire, indicated generally by the reference numeral 1. The underwire comprises an elongate, substantially U-shaped body 3 (as illustrated best in FIG. 1) having a chest-engaging portion 5 (see especially FIG. 3B) and a breast-engaging portion 7. The chest-engaging portion 5 and the breast-engaging portion 7 are connected together along the length of the breast engaging portion 7 in a dogleg-shaped configuration (i.e., the breast-engaging portion extends outwardly from the chest-engaging portion at an obtuse angle). In use, the chest-engaging portion 5 lies flat against the wearer's chest while the breast-engaging portion 7 lies underneath and supports the wearer's breast. As used herein, the terms front, forward, and similar refer to the direction in front of the wearer, while the terms back, rear, rearward, and similar refer to the direction toward the wearer's back.

(10) FIG. 6 is an enlarged partial cross-sectional view along line VI-VI of FIG. 1, illustrating the dogleg-shaped configuration of breast-engaging portion 7 and chest-engaging portion 5. In embodiments, the breast-engaging portion 7 extends outwardly from the chest-engaging portion 5 at an angle, α, of the order of between 110° and 140°.

(11) The breast-engaging portion 7 is shorter in length (L2, see FIG. 2) than the chest-engaging portion 5 (see L1, FIG. 2) and is connected to the chest-engaging portion 5 intermediate the ends of the chest-engaging portion 5. In this way, sections 9, 11 of the elongate body 3 at each of its ends beyond the ends of the breast-engaging portion 7 are substantially flat. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view along line VII-VII of FIG. 1, enlarged to the scale of FIG. 6, and illustrating substantially flat section 11.

(12) Preferably, flat sections 9, 11 are rounded at their outermost ends and thinner than the remainder of the chest-engaging portion 5. In an exemplary embodiment, the thickness ‘t’ (see FIG. 7) of the flat section is on the order of 0.8-0.9 mm, and may be directly stitched to a garment. In embodiments thickness ‘t’ of the sections 9, 11 is about 50%-60% of the thickness of the central region of chest-engaging portion 5 (see FIG. 6).

(13) Referring again to FIGS. 1-4, the breast-engaging portion 7 tapers towards the chest-engaging portion 5 at the ends of the breast-engaging portion 7 in tapered sections 13, 15. This configuration ensures that there is no sudden bend between the dogleg-shaped portion of the underwire (see FIG. 6) and the flat sections of the underwire (see FIG. 7). The tapered sections are each of the order of 0.02 meters (m) in length.

(14) The flat sections 9, 11 at each end of the elongate body are preferably angled with respect to each other so that when the flat section 9 intended for engagement of the area at the sternum lies substantially flat along the sternum, the flat section 11 intended for engagement adjacent the side of the breast near the arm pit will also lie substantially flat along the wearer's body at that location. The body-facing surface 19 of the flat section 9 may be offset from the body-facing surface 21 of the flat section 11 by an angle of over 90° (e.g. angle β of FIG. 2), preferably of the order of between 100° to 150° (see, e.g., FIGS. 3A & 3B).

(15) Referring to FIGS. 3A & 3B, breast-engaging portion 7 has a lowermost region 17 positioned below the wearer's breast when worn. Both ends 9 and 11 of the elongate body project rearwardly away from lowermost region 17 along the −Z axis as shown in FIGS. 3A &3B. In other words, lowermost region 17 is also the forwardmost region of the underwire 1, with ends 9 and 11 projecting toward the wearer's back when worn. The above features provides improved comfort as both ends are contoured toward the wearer's body and snuggly fit the body contour without poking or protruding toward the breast.

(16) In the embodiment shown, the underwire is constructed from a single piece of molded plastic material. It is envisaged that several different plastic materials could be used to good effect including those deemed soft, semi-soft, hard, or very hard, however polyurethane (PU), polyamide (PA), polyoxymethylene (POM) and polyetheretherketone (PEEK) are all deemed particularly suitable materials that may be used in the manufacture of an underwire. The materials used may have a bearing on the dimensions of the underwire and a suitable material may be chosen to provide the desired structural rigidity within predetermined size constraints.

(17) In the embodiment shown, an underwire for a left cup of a size 38B bra is illustrated. It will be understood that the underwire for the right cup of the bra (not shown) will be practically a mirror image (about a vertical axis) of the underwire for the left cup. The ends 9, 11 of the underwire can be stitched directly into the material of a bra provided the material chosen for the underwire is sufficiently thin or sufficiently soft. This direct stitching will further obviate the possibility of the end of the underwire poking into the breast of a wearer and causing discomfort or harm. The underwire may be sandwiched between an inner layer and an outer layer of a cup of the bra or may be placed in a tubular channel of the bra.

(18) Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a brassiere in use, indicated generally by the reference numeral 21. The brassiere 21 has a pair of cups 23, 25, each of which has an underwire 1 (shown in dotted outline) mounted therein. The underwires 1 are stitched into position in the cups 23, 25. It is envisaged that the underwire may also be incorporated into garments other than brassieres per se where it is desired to provide a degree of support to the wearer's breast. For example, the underwire may also be provided in tops, camisoles, tank tops, swimsuits, bikinis, dresses, shirts, vests, one-piece undergarments, body shapers, nightwear, and other items that incorporate breast support.

(19) Throughout this specification the terms “comprise, comprised, comprises and comprising” and the terms “include, includes, included and including” have been used interchangeably and should be afforded the widest possible interpretation.

(20) The embodiments of the underwire described herein and garments incorporating same are exemplary and numerous modifications, combinations, variations, and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve an equivalent result, all of which are intended to be embraced within the scope of the appended claims. Further, nothing in the above-provided discussions of the underwire and garments should be construed as limiting the invention to a particular embodiment or combination of embodiments. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.