BACKLESS AND POSSIBLY STRAPLESS BRASSIERE WITH A REINFORCING PLATE

Abstract

A brassiere, such as a backless and optionally strapless brassiere, includes a basque to accommodate the torso of a user, a pair of concave cups coupled to a portion of the basque, and a pair of reinforcement plates coupled to the concave cups. The reinforcement plates help support a wearer's chest in each one of the cups. Each of the reinforcement plates include fingers extending from an outside of a respective bra cup toward a center of the respective bra cup. The fingers include a first finger extending under the area of the respective cup.

Claims

1.-10. (Canceled)

11. A brassiere, comprising: a basque portion; a pair of concave cups coupled to the basque portion; and a pair of rigid cup reinforcements coupled to the concave cups and configured to help support a user's breasts, each of the cup reinforcements extending at least in part under an area of a respective cup of the pair of concave cups.

12. The brassiere of claim 11, wherein each of the cup reinforcements comprises a finger extending under an area of the respective bra cup.

13. The brassiere of claim 12, wherein each of the cup reinforcements comprises a pattern of apertures distributed along the finger.

14. The brassiere of claim 12, wherein the finger is positioned to extend along a length of the basque portion.

15. The brassiere of claim 12, wherein the finger extends in a curve under the respective cup between a first side end of the respective cup to a second side end of the respective cup.

16. The brassiere of claim 11, wherein each of the cup reinforcements comprises a plurality of fingers extending toward a center of the respective bra cup.

17. The brassiere of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of fingers has a concave shape to accommodate the concave shape of the respective bra cup.

18. The brassiere of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of fingers is substantially rigid in a direction coextensive with the cup reinforcement, and elastically flexible in a transverse direction.

19. The brassiere of claim 18, wherein the coextensive direction is substantially tangential to a surface of the cup reinforcements, and the transverse direction is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the cup reinforcement.

20. The brassiere of claim 16, wherein at least two fingers in the plurality of fingers are arranged in a parallel configuration.

21. The brassiere of claim 16, wherein the plurality of fingers are arranged in a parallel configuration distributed in a vertical direction of the brassiere.

22. The brassiere of claim 21, wherein a length of each of the plurality of fingers is less than a length of an adjacent lower finger, such that a first, lowermost finger of the plurality of fingers comprises the longest finger of the plurality of fingers and an uppermost finger comprises the shortest finger of the plurality of fingers.

23. The brassiere of claim 16, wherein each of the cup reinforcements comprises a pattern of apertures distributed along the plurality of fingers.

24. The brassiere of claim 23, further comprising a textile layer covering the basque portion and the cups, the textile layer directly attached to the cup reinforcements at one or more of the apertures.

25. The brassiere of claim 11, wherein each of the cup reinforcements comprises a molded polycarbonate structure.

26. The brassiere of claim 11, further comprising a torso underwire supporting the cup reinforcements, the torso underwire comprising an arched rigid underwire forming an elastic spring configured to partially envelop the torso of the user.

27. The brassiere of claim 26, wherein the torso underwire comprises: a horizontal main portion corresponding to a front of the torso and to the basque portion of the brassiere; a pair of lateral portions corresponding to sides of the torso; and a pair of structural connections coupling the horizontal main portion to the lateral portions.

28. The brassiere of claim 27, wherein the lateral portions of the torso underwire are formed contiguously with the structural connections and the horizontal main portion of the torso underwire.

29. The brassiere of claim 27, wherein the structural connection are configured, such that, when the brassiere is worn by the user, contact of the torso underwire with the torso is made higher laterally than on a front of the brassiere.

30. The brassiere of claim 11, wherein an assembly comprising the basque portion, the cups, and the cup reinforcements is both backless and strapless.

31. The brassiere of claim 11, further comprising a comfort layer attached to an inner surface of the cup reinforcement such that the comfort layer is configured to be positioned between a wearer and the cup reinforcement.

32. The brassiere of claim 31, wherein the comfort layer comprises a foam.

33. The brassiere of claim 32, wherein the foam is a polyurethane foam.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a particular embodiment example. Reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

[0034] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a brassiere in accordance with the invention.

[0035] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an alternative shape of the underwire of the brassiere of the invention.

[0036] FIG. 3 is a top view of the underwire of FIG. 2.

[0037] FIG. 4 is a flat view of an alternative of reinforcing plate of a brassiere of the invention.

[0038] FIG. 5 is an alternative of FIG. 1, showing the manufacturing in two portions of the torso underwire of the brassiere of the invention.

[0039] FIGS. 6 and 7 are two perspective views of the brassiere of the invention over the torso of a user, in respective view of three-quarters front and three-quarters back.

[0040] FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 represent three alternatives of the shape of the underwire of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] The brassiere 1 of the invention comprises (cf. FIGS. 6 and 7) two cups 2 of a highly concave shape on the internal side (substantially hemispherical), each surrounded towards the bottom of a basque 3 portion and on the side of a lateral portion 4. The two cups 2 espouse the breasts 11 of the user 10. The basque 3 follows the periphery of the torso of the user, at the front and the side. As it is seen, the represented brassiere has neither straps nor back, but the invention might apply to a brassiere provided with straps and in particular with a removable strap system. The lateral portions 4 extend on the sides of the torso of the user and return very slightly in the back of the user, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0042] FIG. 1 shows the basic constitution of the brassiere 1. It comprises an external textile layer 7, a torso underwire 20, two reinforcing plates 30 and an internal textile layer 8.

[0043] The torso underwire 20 is made in a rigid metallic wire having some elasticity. It comprises a low horizontal main portion 21 at the front, surrounded by two high horizontal lateral portions 22 directed rearward and located at several centimeters from the low portion, for example between 3 and 10 cm. The front portion 21 is globally concave on the internal side, with the exception of a curvature inversion in its central portion 23, concave on the external side, for better following the epigastric fossa. The front portion 21 is connected to the high lateral portions 22 on the one hand by a short horizontal rearward return 24 and a vertical branch 25 (this branch may possibly join the low portion with curved portions, or be slightly tilted). The high horizontal portion 22 continues rearward by a vertical return 26 directed towards the bottom. The assembly 25, 22, 26 forms an inverted square U-shaped arch which will be placed in the side 4 of the brassiere below the armpits and will cooperate with the cup reinforcing plates as it will be seen later on. In FIG. 1 it is represented tabs 27 placed at different locations in order to facilitate the securing the underwire to the other elements of the brassiere 1, namely the textile layers 7, 8 and the reinforcing plates 30. In this embodiment, all the underwire is made with one single wire.

[0044] FIGS. 8 to 10 represent alternatives of shape of the high lateral portion 22 of the underwire 20 (the underwire of FIG. 1 is represented in dashes to allow the comparison). In FIG. 8, after the vertical rising portion 25, the high lateral portion 22 is rather rounded and blends in the rear portion 26 which drops towards the bottom, so as to form a rounded and slightly looped arch. In FIG. 9, after the vertical rising portion 25, the high lateral portion 22 runs in a zigzag and drops toward the rear portion 26 with which it coincides. In FIG. 10, the rising portion 25 is tilted because it starts farther from the central portion 23 and curvingly joins the high lateral portion 22, itself rounded and blending in the rear portion 26 which drops towards the bottom.

[0045] FIGS. 2 and 3 show an alternative of underwire 20 represented in its at rest state, that is to say corresponding to the brassiere when it is not worn. The same elements as those which have just been described are found, but it is realized that the lateral portions 24, 25, 22, 26 strongly converge towards each other, due essentially to the curvature (with the concavity towards the inside) given to the horizontal branches 22 during manufacture and to the angle formed between the front portion 21 and the rear return 24. In the represented alternative, the overall width L of the brassiere at rest is for example of 230 mm, its depth P of 173 mm and the distance between the ends 26 of the lateral portions only 60 mm. Thanks to the elasticity of the underwire, this distance D may be elastically enlarged when the user passes the brassiere around her torso, and the underwire then takes a position closer to what is represented in FIG. 1.

[0046] Returning to FIG. 1, it is seen that each reinforcing plate 30 is on one hand shaped globally concave inside to form the volume of the cups. Each plate 30 comprises a lateral portion 31, possibly lightened by one or several recesses 32, which extends substantially horizontally, toward the center of the brassiere, by substantially horizontal, untied and flexible fingers 33, 34, 35 and 36, of which the total length increases from the shortest, the upper finger 33, to the longest, the lower finger 36. Due to their shape, the fingers are substantially elastically flexible and may be spaced apart in a horizontal direction in front or behind the cup 2; however, the fingers practically do not move in a vertical direction and participate well in supporting the chest. The lateral portion 31 is substantially rigid compared to the fingers, due to its more solid and gathered shape. FIG. 6 shows in dashes the position of the fingers inside the brassiere 1. The lower finger 36 is advantageously located in the basque 3 just below the cup 2 or at its beginning and its length allows it to go practically up to the portion between the cups 6 of the brassiere. The upper finger 33 hardly penetrates into the cup 2, while the intermediary fingers 34 and 35 penetrate gradually more, the finger 34 substantially up to the center of the cup and the finger 35 beyond the center, inwards, below the middle of the cup. These fingers ensure a good hold of the chest of which the efforts are thus transmitted on the lateral portions 31 of the plates 30. The lateral portions 31 of the plates 30 are retained in place between the torso of the user on the one hand and the lateral portions of the torso underwire on the other hand: it has been represented in FIG. 3 in a double continuous line/dashes the position of the underwire with its front branch 21 and, on the sides of the torso front, the vertical branch 31 and the horizontal branch 22. The arch shape of the lateral portions 25, 22, 26 of the underwire allows pressing against the side of the torso the lateral portion 31 of the reinforcing plate of which the flexible fingers 33-36 support the chest and give a shape to the cups 2; the weight of the chest is thus in part hung at the high point of contact with the torso, located rather high under the arms of the user, and in part pressing on the torso front by the bottom of the underwire.

[0047] As shown in FIG. 4, the plate includes multiple small holes, or even here pairs of holes 38, in the lateral portion 31 as well as in the fingers 33-34. These holes may be used to attach by sewing the internal and external textile layers 7, 8 to the plate at diverse determined locations, during the tailoring of the brassiere. Moreover, these holes also contribute to lighten the brassiere and increase the breathability thereof. In an embodiment, the flat length L1 of the plate 30 is 280 mm, its overall height H1 is of 120 mm and its height H2 at the rear of the lateral portion 31 is of 73 mm.

[0048] The reinforcing plate 30 is made of polycarbonate in the range of 0,8 mm to 1,2 mm, for example 1 mm, thickness. If it must be glued to layers, in particular layers of foam (not represented), its adhesion to the neighboring layers may be reinforced by roughening its surface, even though the small holes 38 also allow the passage of the bridges of glue.

[0049] The textile layers 7,8 are for example a knitted textile of less than one millimeter thickness, in particular a jersey mixed with polyamide and elastane giving a mesh liable to extend in all directions of the plane of the textile surface. They may be associated with layers of foam, for example polyurethane foam layers, of more or less thickness according to the locations where they are provided and according to the possible compression that they may undergo during a possible thermoforming step during the manufacture of the brassiere.

[0050] The embodiment of FIG. 5 differs from that of FIG. 1 in that the underwire is constituted of two added portions: on the one hand, the front portion 21 with its two returns 24 and on the other hand the lateral portions in the inverted U-shaped arch 25, 22, 26, which can be assembled to each other thanks to connecting parts 28, 29 provided respectively on the returns 24 and the vertical branches 25. This constitution in two separate portions which may be assembled to each other may be better adapted to some modes of manufacturing and assembling of the brassiere.

[0051] Advantageously, it may be provided on the inner portion 5 of the lateral portions 4 of the brassiere lines or dots 9 of a slip-resistant product, for example a silicone gel, for promoting the hold in position of the brassiere.

[0052] Fitting tests have been performed with the brassieres of the invention and have proven quite conclusive: the users were able to wear them for several hours (5 hours) without feeling discomfort and were able during this time to practice diverse light physical exercise such as walking and simple dances without substantial displacement of the brassiere.