Brassiere steel ring having an irregular cross section

Abstract

A brassiere steel ring having an irregular cross section that is comfortable to wear and has a long life is provided. The steel ring has an overall arc shape comprising an arc-shaped inner edge and an arc-shaped outer edge. A reduced neck section is provided in the middle part of the cross section of the steel ring. The reduced neck section divides the cross section of the steel ring into a upper section and a lower section, and has a width smaller than those of the upper section and the lower section. The upper section forms the arc-shaped inner edge of the steel ring, and the lower section forms the arc-shaped outer edge of the steel ring. By this way, the anti-fatigue ability of the steel ring will not be decreased when its cross section is enlarged, which increases the life of the steel ring.

Claims

1. A brassiere steel ring having an irregular cross section, the steel ring comprising: an overall arc shape, the overall arc shape comprises an arc-shaped inner edge and an arc-shaped outer edge, wherein a reduced neck section is provided in a middle part of a cross section of the steel ring, the reduced neck section dividing the cross-section of the steel ring into a upper section and a lower section, and having a width smaller than those of the upper section and the lower section, wherein the upper section forms the arc-shaped inner edge and the lower section forms the arc-shaped outer edge, and wherein the reduced neck section forms a buffer area when the brassiere steel ring is stretched or compressed thereby isolating the interactions between the arc-shaped inner edge and the arc-shaped outer edge.

2. The brassiere steel ring of claim 1, wherein the upper section and the lower section have smooth arc shapes, the reduced neck section has an inwardly extending arc shape, and the reduced neck section extends smoothly with the upper section and the lower section.

3. The brassiere steel ring of claim 2, wherein the cross section of the steel ring has a longitudinal symmetry axis extending longitudinally along the lower section, the reduced neck section and the upper section, and the cross section of the steel ring is longitudinally axisymmetric with respect to said longitudinal symmetry axis.

4. The brassiere steel ring of claim 3, wherein the cross section of the steel ring has a horizontal symmetry axis extending horizontally along a middle part of the reduced neck section, and the cross section of the steel ring is horizontally axisymmetric with respect to said horizontal symmetry axis.

5. The brassiere steel ring of claim 4, wherein the cross section of the steel ring has a waisted round shape having an arc-shaped reduced neck section.

6. The brassiere steel ring of claim 1, wherein the cross section of the steel ring has a longitudinal height of 1.6-2.4 mm, the upper section and the lower section are symmetric and have horizontal widths of 0.6-1.0 mm, the reduced neck section has a horizontal width of 0.4-0.6 mm, and the horizontal width of the reduced neck section is smaller than those of the upper section and the lower section.

7. The brassiere steel ring of claim 3, wherein the lower section of the cross section of the steel ring has a horizontal width larger than a horizontal width of the upper section.

8. The brassiere steel ring of claim 7, wherein the horizontal width of the lower section of the cross section of the steel ring is 1.2-3 times the horizontal width of the upper section.

9. The brassiere steel ring of claim 7, wherein the cross section of the steel ring has a bowling pin shape having an arc-shaped reduced neck section.

10. The brassiere steel ring of claim 7, wherein the cross section of the steel ring has a longitudinal height of 2.0-3.2 mm, the upper section has a horizontal width of 0.3-0.8 mm, the lower section has a horizontal width of 0.8-1.5 mm, the reduced neck section has a horizontal width of 0.15-0.5 mm, the horizontal width of the reduced neck section is respectively smaller than those of the upper section and the lower section, and a ratio between the horizontal widths of the lower section and the upper section is not more than 3.

11. The brassiere steel ring of claim 3, wherein the lower section of the cross section of the steel ring has a horizontal width smaller than a horizontal width of the upper section.

12. The brassiere steel ring of claim 11, wherein the horizontal width of the upper section of the cross section of the steel ring is 1.2-3 times the horizontal width of the lower section.

13. The brassiere steel ring of claim 11, wherein the cross section of the steel ring has an inverted bowling pin shape having an arc-shaped reduced neck section.

14. The brassiere steel ring of claim 11, wherein the cross section of the steel ring has a longitudinal height of 2.0-3.2 mm, the upper section has a horizontal width of 0.8-1.5 mm, the lower section has a horizontal width of 0.3-0.8 mm, the reduced neck section has a horizontal width of 0.15-0.5 mm, the horizontal width of the reduced neck section is respectively smaller than those of the upper section and the lower section, and a ratio between the horizontal widths of the upper section and the lower section is not more than 3.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION TO THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of the structure of a steel ring according to one example of the present invention.

(2) FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of the cross section of part of the steel ring according to Example 1 of the present invention.

(3) FIG. 3 shows a sized view of the cross section of the steel ring according to Example 1 of the present invention.

(4) FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of the cross section of part of the steel ring according to Example 2 of the present invention.

(5) FIG. 5 shows a sized view of the cross section of the steel ring according to Example 2 of the present invention.

(6) FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of the cross section of part of the steel ring according to Example 3 of the present invention.

(7) FIG. 7 shows a sized view of the cross section of the steel ring according to Example 3 of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(8) The present invention will be described in conjugation with embodiments and figures. It is understood that those embodiments are provided as examples only, and not limiting the scope of the present invention. To provide a better description of the embodiments, some parts in the figures is omitted, enlarged, or shrunk, and they don't represent actual size of the product. It is understood to a skilled person in the art that some common structures in the figures and their descriptions may be omitted.

Example 1

(9) FIG. 1 shows a brassiere steel ring having an irregular cross section 100. The steel ring 100 has an overall arc shape comprising an arc-shaped inner edge and an arc-shaped outer edge as indicated in the figure. During wearing of the brassiere, the steel ring 100 has applied thereon mainly two forces, i.e., a stretching force and a compressing force, of directions as indicated by the arrows in the figure.

(10) It can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3 that a reduced neck section 130 is provided in the middle part of the cross section of the steel ring 100. The reduced neck section 130 divides the cross-section of the steel ring into a upper section 110 and a lower section 120, and has a width smaller than the upper section and the lower section. The upper section 110 forms the arc-shaped inner edge of the steel ring 100, and the lower section 120 forms the arc-shaped outer edge of the steel ring 100.

(11) The upper section 110 and the lower section 120 both have smooth arc-shaped profiles. The reduced neck section 130 has an inwardly extending arc shape, and the reduced neck section 130 extends smoothly with the upper section 110 and the lower section 120.

(12) The cross section of the steel ring 100 has a longitudinal symmetry axis Y extending longitudinally along the lower section 120, the reduced neck section 130 and the upper section 110, and a horizontal symmetry axis X extending horizontally along the middle part of the reduced neck section 130. The cross section of the steel ring 100 is symmetric with respect to said horizontal symmetry axis X and said longitudinal symmetry axis Y. To be specific, the cross section of the steel ring 100 has a waisted round shape having an arc-shaped reduced neck section 130, which is like the shape of a peanut.

(13) FIG. 3 shows the size details of the cross section of the steel ring 100. Its cross section has a longitudinal height of 2.00 mm, the upper section 110 and the lower section 120 are symmetric and both have horizontal widths of 0.80 mm, and the reduced neck section 130 has a horizontal width of 0.50 mm.

(14) When the steel ring 100 is being stretched or compressed, the reduced neck section 130 can form a buffer area, isolating the interactions between the inner edge (i.e., the upper section 110) and the outer edge (i.e., the lower section 120), thereby the anti-fatigue ability of the steel ring 100 will not be decreased when its cross section is enlarged, so as to increase the life of the steel ring 100. The structure with two vertically positioned symmetric axes allows the anti-fatigue abilities in the inner and outer edges of the steel ring 100 to be equivalent, and allows the anti-stretching ability and anti-compressing ability of the steel ring 100 to be equivalent, providing a simple design that is easy to produce.

Example 2

(15) Overall structure of the present example is basically the same as the previous example, and thus need not be repeated here. It can be seen from FIGS. 4 and 5 that the lower section 220 of the cross section of the steel ring 200 has a horizontal width larger than a horizontal width of the upper section 210. Similarly, a reduced neck section 230 is provided in the middle part of the cross section of the steel ring 200. The reduced neck section 230 divides the cross-section of the steel ring into a upper section 210 and a lower section 220, and has a width smaller than those of the upper section and the lower section. The upper section 210 forms the arc-shaped inner edge of the steel ring 200, and the lower section 220 forms the arc-shaped outer edge of the steel ring 200.

(16) The upper section 210 and the lower section 220 also both have a smooth arc shapes. The reduced neck section 230 has an inwardly extending arc shape, and the reduced neck section 230 extends smoothly with the upper section 210 and the lower section 220.

(17) The cross section of the steel ring 200 has a longitudinal symmetry axis Y extending longitudinally along the lower section 220, the reduced neck section 230 and the upper section 210, and the cross section of the steel ring 200 is longitudinally axisymmetric with respect to said longitudinal symmetry axis Y. To be specific, the cross section of the steel ring 200 has a bowling pin shape having an arc-shaped reduced neck section 220, or a pear shape or a cucurbit shape.

(18) Thickness of the outer edge of the steel ring is larger than thickness of the inner edge of the steel ring. FIG. 5 shows the size of the cross section of the steel ring 200. Its cross section has a longitudinal height of 2.80 mm, the upper section 210 has a horizontal width of 0.60 mm, the lower section 220 has a horizontal width of 1.30 mm, and the reduced neck section 230 has a horizontal width of 0.30 mm.

(19) It can be seen that this scope of size is slightly increased compared to that of the previous example, which leads to an increase in its stretching and compressing resistance abilities, while bringing no increase in its dimension, which means that their costs for materials are basically the same. This is due to the fact that the size of the steel ring 200 is reasonably adjusted according to its force resistance property. Compared to a symmetric structure with the same cost in materials, the above structure is more comfortable and provides a shaping effect.

(20) In other examples that are based on this structure, the cross section has a longitudinal height of 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 or 3.2 mm, the upper section 210 has a horizontal width of 0.3, 0.4, 0.6 or 0.8 mm, the lower section 220 has a horizontal width of 0.8, 1.0, 1.3 or 1.5 mm, and the reduced neck section has a horizontal width of 0.15, 0.25, 0.30 or 0.5 mm.

Example 3

(21) The present example is a preferable example with an overall structure basically the same as the previous example, and thus need not be repeated here. It can be seen from FIGS. 6 and 7 that the lower section 320 of the cross section of the steel ring 300 has a horizontal width smaller than a horizontal width of the upper section 310. Similarly, a reduced neck section 330 is provided in the middle part of the cross section of the steel ring 300. The reduced neck section 330 divides the cross-section of the steel ring into a upper section 310 and a lower section 320, and has a width smaller than the upper section and the lower section. The upper section 310 forms the arc-shaped inner edge of the steel ring 300, and the lower section 320 forms the arc-shaped outer edge of the steel ring 300.

(22) The upper section 310 and the lower section 320 also have smooth arc shapes. The reduced neck section 330 has an inwardly extending arc shape, and the reduced neck section 330 extends smoothly with the upper section 310 and the lower section 320.

(23) The cross section of the steel ring 300 has a longitudinal symmetry axis Y extending longitudinally along the lower section 320, the reduced neck section 330 and the upper section 310, and the cross section of the steel ring 300 is longitudinally axisymmetric with respect to said longitudinal symmetry axis Y. To be specific, the cross section of the steel ring 300 has a bowling pin shape having an arc-shaped reduced neck section 320, or a pear shape or a cucurbit shape.

(24) Thickness of the outer edge of the steel ring is smaller than thickness of the inner edge of the steel ring. FIG. 7 shows the size of the cross section of the steel ring 300. Its cross section has a longitudinal height of 2.80 mm, the upper section 310 has a horizontal width of 1.30 mm, the lower section 220 has a horizontal width of 0.60 mm, and the reduced neck section 330 has a horizontal width of 0.30 mm.

(25) In other preferable examples, the cross section has a longitudinal height of 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 or 3.2 mm, the upper section 310 has a horizontal width of 0.8, 1.0, 1.3 or 1.5 mm, the lower section 320 has a horizontal width of 0.3, 0.4, 0.6 or 0.8 mm, and the reduced neck section 330 has a horizontal width of 0.15, 0.25, 0.30 or 0.5 mm.

(26) Under conditions with the same parameters (including distance between two ends of the steel ring, and material), comparative fatigue tests were performed with the same stretching or compressing force and speed to the steel rings of Examples 2 and 3. It can be seen from the comparative tests that the anti-compressing abilities in Examples 2 and 3 have little difference, but with regard to their anti-stretching ability, Example 3 is obviously better than Example 2. Example 3 has an anti-stretching ability 2-4 times Example 2.

(27) It should be understood that position relationships in the figures are used for exemplary descriptions only, and should not be interpreted as limitations to the present invention. Obviously, the above examples are provided for clear explanations of the present invention, and not for limiting to the embodiments of the present invention. To a skilled person in the art, changes or alterations can be made based on the above descriptions. It is not necessary or possible to exhaustively give examples of all the embodiments. All alterations, equivalent replacements and improvements within the spirit and principle of the present invention, should be included in the scope of the claims of the present application.