MATERNITY UNDERGARMENT FOR GENTLE SUPPORT AND SHAPE ENHANCEMENT

Abstract

A maternity under garment specifically for use during pregnancy supports the weight of a developing fetus while not encroaching on the growth aspect. The maternity undergarment has a shape that helps keep the abdomen of the pregnant woman in place, which expands as the fetus grows therein. The abdomen area features three different thicknesses on the full abdomen area. The bottom part of abdomen is a thick supportive fabric so it can hold the abdomen with the fetus therein. The section supporting the mid abdomen is lighter and less dense than that of the lower abdomen portion, because that will allow the woman's expanding abdomen to come out as the fetus grows, The top hemispheric part of the abdomen area has a thinner mesh material, that will allow the abdomen to fully come outward and upward, with no compression.

Claims

1. A maternity garment comprising: a stretchable mesh region in an upper abdomen portion of a full abdomen area of said garment expandable over time of a pregnancy and adapted to accommodate a growing fetus; side flank areas of fabric sufficiently thick to provide side support for said stretchable mesh region, said flank areas extended around a back of said maternity garment; adjustable bra straps supporting said flank areas; said flank areas extending down to thigh bands of said garment; a middle band of structural support material attached to a bottom edge of said mesh region extending from one side flank area to an opposite side flank area providing bottom support of said mesh region; said middle band being bounded beneath by a lower abdomen portion of said full abdomen area, said lower abdomen portion comprised of a layer of solid fabric adapted to support the weight of said fetus; and a crotch area of said garment comprising structural sections of support material, said crotch including a wide-open crotch double gusset allowing use of a rest room without removal of said garment.

2. The maternity garment of claim 1 in which said full abdomen area features three different thicknesses of material, the lower abdomen portion being the thickest supportive fabric in said full abdomen area, while the middle band is made of material less dense and lighter than said lower abdomen portion, and the mesh region being the lightest of all three portions of the full abdomen area of said garment.

3. The maternity garment of claim 2 wherein said garment is seamless.

4. The maternity garment of claim 3 in which the garment is constructed entirely of knitted materials in which the garment is manufactured in one continuous knitting process thereby eliminating a post-process of attaching elastic bands.

5. The maternity garment of claim 4 in which said garment has an opening for use of a bra.

6. The maternity garment of claim 5 in which said flank areas of said garment are adapted to cover buttocks of a user.

7. The maternity garment of claim 6 in which said flank areas include stretchable mesh regions adapted to enclose said buttocks.

8. The maternity garment of claim 7 in which said buttocks enclosed mesh regions include multiple regions of stretch, with lower portions of said multiple regions being less stretchable.

9. The maternity garment as in claim 2 wherein said thickest supportive fabric in said lower abdominal portion of said full abdomen area is provided in a thickness of a range of deniers of from about 40 deniers to about 200 deniers, wherein further said middle band material of said abdominal area is made of material less dense and lighter than said lower abdomen portion is provided in a thickness of from about 20 deniers to about 100 deniers, and wherein the mesh region of said upper abdominal area being the lightest of all three portions is provided in a range of about 10 deniers to about 50 deniers of said garment.

10. The maternity garment as in claim 1 wherein said upper abdomen portion, said middle band and said lower abdominal portion are a single, integral mesh.

11. The maternity garment as in claim 8 wherein a thickest mesh of said plurality of buttocks enclosed mesh regions is provided in a thickness of a range of deniers of from about 20 deniers to about 100 deniers, wherein further a second mesh of less dense and lighter mesh than said thickest mesh is provided in a thickness of from about 10 deniers to about 80 deniers, and wherein the mesh region being the lightest of all three portions is provided in a range of about 10 deniers to about 50 deniers of said garment.

12. A method for providing support of a growing fetus in a pregnant woman comprising the steps of: said woman donning a maternity garment having a stretchable mesh region in an upper abdomen portion of a full abdomen area of said garment expandable over time of a pregnancy and adapted to accommodate a growing fetus; side flank areas of thicker fabric providing side support for said stretchable mesh region; said side flank areas extending around a back of said maternity garment; said flank areas extending down to thigh bands of said garment; a middle band of structural support material attached to a bottom edge of said mesh region extending from one side flank area to an opposite side flank area providing bottom support of said mesh region; and said middle band being bounded beneath by a lower abdomen portion of said full abdomen area; and said lower abdomen portion comprised of a layer of solid fabric adapted to support the weight of said fetus; providing a crotch area in said garment comprising structural sections of support material; said woman using adjustable bra straps to support said flank areas of said garment, thereby supporting said garment on said woman; and said woman using a rest room without removal of said garment because of said crotch including a wide-open crotch double gusset.

13. The method of claim 12 in which said full abdomen area features three different thicknesses of material, the lower abdomen portion being the thickest supportive fabric in said full abdomen area, while the middle band is made of material less dense and lighter than said lower abdomen portion, and the mesh region being the lightest of all three portions of the full abdomen area of said garment.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said garment is seamless.

15. The method of claim 14 in which the garment is constructed entirely of knitted materials in which the garment is manufactured in one continuous knitting process thereby eliminating a post-process of attaching elastic bands.

16. The method of claim 15 in which said garment has an opening for use of a bra.

17. The method of claim 16 in which said flank areas of said garment are adapted to cover the buttocks region of a user.

18. The method of claim 17 in which said flank areas include stretchable mesh regions adapted to enclose said buttocks.

19. The method of claim 18 in which said buttocks enclosed mesh regions include multiple regions of stretch, with at least one lower portion of said multiple regions being less stretchable.

20. An undergarment for gentle support and shape enhancement comprising: a one-piece undergarment covering at least an upper and a lower region of a front abdominal area, a rear back area and a pair of side flank regions on each side of said undergarment connecting said front abdominal to said rear back area; said garment further having a rear buttocks portion; said buttocks portion being a pair of less compressive mesh regions separated by an integral G-string connection passing closely between left and right buttocks of the wearer; said pair of side flank support regions adjacent to said upper and lower regions, and said mid waist region extending up sides of said undergarment, said pair of flank supports extending along respective left and right outer peripheral edges of respective upper, mid waist and lower abdominal regions, said side flank supports supporting said buttocks regions from the sides and below, whereby said pair of buttocks mesh regions are further pushed outward without compression; said buttocks regions being fully covered by mesh made from garment material thinner and less compressive than the respective garment material making up a remainder of said undergarment, allowing said buttocks regions to be pushed upward and outward without compression during wearing of the undergarment of the wearer in which said buttocks enclosed mesh regions include multiple regions of stretch, with lower portions of said multiple regions being less stretchable. wherein said buttocks enclosed mesh regions include multiple regions of stretch, with at least one lower portion of said multiple regions being less stretchable.

21. The undergarment as in claim 19 wherein a thickest mesh of said plurality of meshes in said buttocks enclosed mesh regions is provided in a thickness of a range of deniers of from about 20 deniers to about 100 deniers, wherein further a second mesh of less dense and lighter mesh than said thickest mesh is provided in a thickness of from about 10 deniers to about 80 deniers, and wherein the mesh region being the lightest of all three portions is provided in a range of about 10 deniers to about 50 deniers of said garment.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] The present invention can best be understood in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the invention is not limited to the precise embodiments shown in drawings, in which:

[0033] FIG. 1 illustrates a front perspective view of a non-maternity undergarment of a previous prior art invention.

[0034] FIG. 2 illustrates a rear perspective view of the same non-maternity undergarment of FIG. 1 from the previous prior art invention.

[0035] FIG. 3 illustrates a front perspective view of the maternity undergarment of the present invention.

[0036] FIG. 4 illustrates a rear perspective view of the maternity undergarment of the present invention.

[0037] FIG. 5 illustrates a right-side perspective view of the maternity undergarment of the present invention.

[0038] FIG. 6 is a right-side perspective detail of an alternate embodiment of the right buttocks covering in mesh illustrating the two bands of higher density mesh at the bottom area.

[0039] FIG. 7 is a rear perspective detail of the alternate embodiment mesh covering as in FIG. 6 showing the two higher density bands near the bottom of the mesh areas of both buttocks.

[0040] FIG. 8 is a right-side perspective view of the maternity undergarment of the present invention showing the higher density bands of both buttocks as well as the higher density mesh bands near the bottom of the front mesh region.

[0041] It is further noted that the various region areas of the maternity undergarment are shown with various cross hatchings and line configurations, which like areas bear the same cross hatchings and/or line configurations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0042] FIGS. 1 and 2 are prior art drawings illustrating the front and the back respectively of an undergarment for butt enhancement. In FIG. 2, mesh regions marked with item labels “B” and “C” are expandable pouches which allow the buttocks to expand into them as supported by less stretchable surrounding regions to form a more desirable look. FIG. 1 of the same prior art shows a thick fabric region over the stomach wall marked as item label “A” which helps to compress the stomach flat.

[0043] FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of a maternity undergarment of this invention as worn by a user. Although specific undergarments may vary in terms of materials and design, the functional aspects are well illustrated by the elements of FIG. 3. Stretchable mesh region 1 used in the upper abdomen expands outward over the time of the pregnancy without encroaching on a growing fetus. The area around the crotch 5 as well as the middle band 3 are structural sections of thick support material. Lower abdomen section 4 is a one-layer solid fabric which supports the weight of the fetus. The side flank areas 2 are of the thickest fabric which continues to the back as illustrated in FIG. 4, the back view. Thigh bands 6 may have knitted-in welts. Item 7 is a wide-open crotch double gusset. Two bra straps with adjusters 15 support the undergarment foundation (i.e., back and side flanks). The mesh areas on right buttocks 16 and left buttocks 17 are shown as supported at the edge by fabric 2. FIG. 5 is a right-side perspective view showing the items described in FIGS. 3 and 4 from the side where sections such as the shape of the foundation 2 are more clearly visible.

[0044] FIGS. 6-8 illustrate an alternate embodiment wherein the stretchable mesh areas have variable stretchability. FIG. 6 is a detail of a right buttocks area covered in mesh 25 that has three regions of stretch. While most of the area of 25 is thin and quite stretchable; the bottom portion 26 has two bands which become more dense and have less stretch. Band 28, adjacent to support fabric 2 is the densest mesh while band 27 is less dense than 28 but denser than the upper part of 25. FIG. 7 shows the same details from a back view of both buttocks 25. FIG. 8 illustrates a maternity undergarment of the second embodiment with three regions of stretch for both the buttocks mesh as well as the front mesh. In this side view, both rear mesh 25 as well as front mesh 33 can be seen. In front mesh 33, lower bands 35 and most dense mesh 36 are shown at the bottom edge as region 34. It is important that seamless implementation of these bands is used to eliminate outwardly visible lines. A continuously variable stretch knitting is ideally suited to replace the discrete bands shown here.

[0045] Since the buttocks area mesh and the front mesh are quite isolated from each other, a maternity undergarment without the buttocks mesh enhancement is feasible as is a non-maternity butt enhancing undergarment with a variable density mesh.

[0046] In the foregoing description, certain terms and visual depictions are used to illustrate the preferred embodiment. However, no unnecessary limitations are to be construed by the terms used or illustrations depicted, beyond what is shown in the prior art, since the terms and illustrations are exemplary only, and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0047] It is further known that other modifications may be made to the present invention, without departing the scope of the invention, as noted in the appended Claims.