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

1-19. (canceled)

20. An undergarment for gentle support and shape enhancement comprising: a one-piece seamless 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 comprising 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; and said buttocks mesh 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 mesh regions to be pushed upward and outward without compression during wearing of the undergarment of the wearer in which said buttocks mesh regions include multiple regions of stretch, with lower portions of said multiple regions being less stretchable, there being two separate higher density bands of mesh at a bottom thereof being heavier with less stretch than areas further above.

21-29. (canceled)

30. The undergarment as in claim 20 wherein said multiple regions of stretch of said variable density mesh regions of said buttocks comprise infinitely variable mesh.

31-40. (canceled)

41. The undergarment of claim 20 in which said less compressive regions are separated by an integral G-string connection passing closely between left and right buttocks of the wearer.

42. An undergarment for gentle support and shape enhancement comprising: a seamless 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 rear buttocks regions, and said undergarment adapted to extend up from an upper thigh of a wearer; said buttocks regions being a pair of spaced less compressive mesh regions adapted to cover buttocks of said 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 regions are further pushed outward without compression; and 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 regions include multiple regions of stretch, with lower portions of said multiple regions being less stretchable; and a first band of higher density mesh stretched along a bottom of each buttocks region which is more dense than and have less stretch than said mesh covering said buttocks regions.

43. The undergarment of claim 42 in which a second band is stretched along a bottom of each said first band which is more dense than and have less stretch than said first band.

44. A method for providing gentle support and shape enhancement in an undergarment comprising the steps of: producing a one-piece seamless 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 rear buttocks regions, and said undergarment adapted to extend up from an upper thigh of a 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 regions are further pushed outward without compression; fully covering said buttocks regions with 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 three regions of stretch, with lower portions of said multiple regions being less stretchable; and stretching a first band of higher density mesh along a bottom of each buttocks region which is more dense than and have less stretch than said mesh covering said buttocks regions.

45. The method of claim 44 in which a second higher density mesh band is stretched along a bottom of each said first band which is more dense than and have less stretch than said first band.

46. An undergarment for gentle support and shape enhancement comprising: a one-piece seamless 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 and said undergarment adapted to extend up from an upper thigh of a wearer; said garment further having rear buttocks regions; 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 regions including multiple regions of stretch, with lower portions of said multiple regions being less stretchable; and two separate higher density bands of mesh at a bottom of each buttocks region, a lower band of said bands being heavier with less stretch than the band directly above.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] 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:

[0034] FIG. 1 illustrates a front perspective view of a non-maternity undergarment of a previous prior art invention.

[0035] FIG. 2 illustrates a rear perspective view of the same non-maternity undergarment of FIG. 1 from the previous prior art invention.

[0036] FIG. 3 illustrates a front perspective view of the maternity undergarment of the present invention.

[0037] FIG. 4 illustrates a rear perspective view of the maternity undergarment of the present invention.

[0038] FIG. 5 illustrates a right-side perspective view of the maternity undergarment of the present invention.

[0039] 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.

[0040] 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.

[0041] 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.

[0042] FIG. 9 is a right side perspective view of the maternity garment of FIG. 8, showing a multi-color pattern design adorned on a mesh portion of the maternity garment.

[0043] 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 DESCRIPTIONOF THE INVENTION

[0044] 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.

[0045] 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.

[0046] 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. FIG. 9 shows the garment of FIG. 8, but with optional multicolored pattern designs 37 provided on the front mesh 33 of the undergarment.

[0047] 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.

[0048] 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.

[0049] 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.