Brassiere with augmenting bust support

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Patent issued

08/02/1994

Inventor(s):	Barker, Kathryn Z.
Application	No. 08/042,618 filed on 04/02/1993
Current US Class	450/31, 450/32, 450/54, 450/55, 450/56, 2/247, 2/267
Field of search	2/67, 2/73, 2/247, 2/267, 2/268, 450/31, 450/32, 450/36, 450/37, 450/52, 450/53, 450/54, 450/55, 450/56, 450/57, 450/61, 450/89
International Classes:	A41C 314
Examiners
Primary	Crowder Clifford D.
Secondary	Chapman Jeanette E.
Attorney, agent or firm:	Hackler; Walter A.
US patent references	1059167, 1845011, 2359804, 2567732, 3099839
Foreign patents	0151623 (09/30/1951, AU), 070656 (05/31/1959, FR), 0271095 (12/31/1950, CH)

An improved brassiere includes a pair of fabric breast cups and straps,interconnecting said breast cups and maintaining a spaced apartrelationship therebetween, for enabling the breast cups to be worn by auser. Breast pillows are provided for augmenting and uplifting a user'sbreasts with the breast pillows being formed from a breast implant typegel for simulating breast tissue of the user. The gel is a washable fabricand has a crescent shape with a generally flat top portion sized foruplifting the user's breasts. A pocket in a lower half of each breast cupis provided for receiving the breast pillows. The pockets are sized andpositioned, in the breast cups, in order to enable the flat top portions,of the breast pillows, to engage an underside of each of the user'sbreasts for uplifting thereof. The straps and the breast cups are sizedfor enabling the uplifted breasts to exert downward and outward pressureon said breast pillows, causing the breast pillows to conform with,augment and simulate the undersides of the user's breasts.
The present invention generally relates to women's support garments and ismore particularly directed to an improved brassiere and brassiere ensemblewhich provides augmenting breast support.
A great number of women desire an enhancement to their breasts, and manyhave turned to the use of surgically implanted gel systems. It has beenrecently reported, however, that a number of problems arise with the useof breast implants which include not only rejection by the body, butfailure of the implant to remain structurally sound. That is, someimplants have been found to break up and migrate to undesirable locationswithin the user's body.
By avoiding such implants, women desiring breast enhancement, such anincrease in volume of the breasts themselves and an enhancement of thecleavage between the breasts, have no viable alternative for a way tosubstantially duplicate the feel of breasts.
Heretofore, in the development of supporting brassieres, the prior art hasutilized a number of padded breast cups. Typical padding heretofore usedhas been cloth or polyester, as well as many types of silicone gels whichmay have little or no resiliency or do not provide the feel of realbreasts.
Many padded bras have utilized fixed pads within the breast cups and othershave utilized pockets in each cup for receiving a pad insert.
The present invention provides a brassiere which augments the bust andprovides for a real-like expansion of the bust through the use of the sametype of material utilized for breast implants. It is apparent that theconsistency of the implanted gels, which are utilized in the presentinvention, closely matches the consistency of breast tissue, to the pointwhere casual touching of the breast will not disclose the gel.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A brassiere in accordance with the present invention generally includes apair of fabric breast cups and strap means interconnecting the breast cupsand maintaining them in a spaced apart relationship therebetween, forenabling the breast cups to be worn by a user.
Importantly, breast pillow means are provided for augmenting and upliftinga user's breasts and the breast pillow means in accordance with thepresent invention utilize implant type gels which provide a means forsimulating the breast tissue of the user.
More particularly, in accordance with the present invention, the gel isdisposed in a sealed, pliable pouch covered with a washable fabric, whichenables periodic cleaning thereof without degradation of the gel. This hassignificant advantage over the prior art systems utilizing cotton, foam orpolyester type materials, which may disintegrate or harden during repeateduse and/or washing.
The breast pillow means in accordance with the present invention aregenerally crescent shaped, with a generally flat portion thereon, sizedfor uplifting the user's breasts.
A pocket disposed in the lower half of each breast cup provides a means forreceiving the breast pillow means and, advantageously, the breast pillowmeans are interchangeable with one another in the pockets. The pockets aresized and positioned in the breast cups in order to enable the flat topportions of the breast pillow means to engage an underside of each of theuser's breasts for uplifting thereof. Further, strap means are sized forenabling the uplifted breast to exert downward and outward pressure on thebreast pillow means, with the breast implant gel means therein, to conformwith, augment and simulate the undersides of the user's breasts.
More particularly, in accordance with the present invention, the pocketcomprises a liner fixed with bottom edge of each fabric breast cup andpairs of overlapping flaps, one of each flat pair being attached to eachfabric breast cup and another each flat pair as being attached to a top ofthe liner. This structure facilitates easy access to the pocket forinsertion of the breast pillow means and the overlapping configuration ofthe flaps ensures positive placement of the breast pillow means within thepocket when the user wears the brassiere. Since no snaps, seams or otherclosure device is utilized, a smooth comfortable fit between the breastand the breast pillow means is provided.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the brassiere further includessupport means, disposed along a bottom edge of each fabric breast cup, forlimiting downward movement of the breast pillow means. The support meansmay comprise an elastic band which would be most suitable for athletic ofsports-type brassieres, or a rigid arcuate member which would be moresuitable for a brassiere in accordance with the present invention for usewith formal wear.
The breast pillow means in accordance with the present invention mayalternatively include a plurality of pairs of sealed pliable pouches, eachbeing filled with the implant-type gel means, with each pair being of adifferent size from another pair. This feature enables the user to obtainbreast enhancement of varying degrees.
As hereinabove noted, brassieres in accordance with the present inventionmay be utilized for garments designed for a wide variety of activities. Inthat regard, a further embodiment of the present invention includes abrassiere ensemble which includes a plurality of brassiere shells whichmay be of various sizes, shapes, colors and configurations, particularlyadapted for a particular use, such as but not limited to, sportsactivities, including swimming, general every day use, and formal attire.
Each of the brassiere shells include a pair of fabric cups and strap meansinterconnecting the breast cups and maintaining a spaced apartrelationship therebetween for enabling the breast cups to be worn by theuser.
Means, defining a pocket in a lower half of each breast cup, are providedfor receiving breast pillow means. Importantly, the breast pillow meansare interchangeable and receivable by any of the plurality of thebrassiere shells. Thus, the breast pillow means provided for in accordancewith the present invention, for augmenting and uplifting a user's breast,may be utilized in combination with a variety of brassiere shellconfigurations.

What is claimed is:
1. A brassiere ensemble comprising:
a plurality of brassiere shells, each shell comprising:
a pair of fabric breast cups;
strap means, interconnecting said breast cups and maintaining a spacedapart relationship therebetween, for enabling the breast cups to be wornby a user;
means, defining a pocket in a lower half of each breast cup, for receivingbreast pillow means, said breast pillow means being interchangeable andreceivable by any of the plurality of brassiere shells, the pocketdefining mans being sized and positioned, in said breast cups, in order toenable a tapered top position of the breast pillow means to engage anunderside of each of the user's breasts for uplifting thereof, said strapmeans and said breast cups being sized for enabling uplifted breasts toexert downward and outward pressure on said breast pillow means to conformwith, augment and simulate the undersides of the user's breasts, saidpocket defining means further comprising a liner fixed to a bottom edge ofeach fabric breast cup and pairs of overlapping flaps, one of each flappair being attached o each fabric breast cup and another of each flap pairbeing attached to a top of the liner, said flap being positioned in orderthat the underside of the user's breasts provide compression to hold theflaps against one another and against the breast pillow means;
breast pillow means for augmenting and uplifting a user's breasts, saidbreast pillow means being receivable by any of the plurality of brassiereshells and comprising breast implant type gel means for simulating breasttissue of the user, the breast pillow means further comprising sealedpliable pouch means for containing the gel means, and a washable fabriccovering the pliable pouch means, said breast pillow means being crescentshaped with a tapered top portion; and
support means, disposed along the bottom edge of each fabric breast cup,for limiting downward movement of the breast pillow means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention may be more clearly appreciated when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a brassiere in accordance with the presentinvention as may be worn by a user;
FIG. 2 is a front view of a brassiere in accordance with the presentinvention, partially broken away in order to show a breast pillow disposedtherein;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a breast pillow in accordance with thepresent invention;
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the breast pillow in accordance withthe present invention disposed within a pocket in the brassiere, withoverlying flaps for holding the breast pillows within the pocket when thebrassiere is not in use; and
FIG. 5 is a view taken along the line 5--5 in FIG. 2 showing the effect ofthe brassiere in accordance with the present invention, uplifting a user'sbreast, and also in phantom line a representation of the breast withoutthe supporting features of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Turning now to FIG. 1, where there is shown a brassiere 10 in accordancewith the present invention, as it may be worn by a user 12. It should beappreciated that the brassiere 10 shown in FIG. 1 is only representativeof a plurality of brassieres which, together, provide a brassiere ensemblefor the user 12, suitable for use during all activities of the user 12 andvarious outer garments (not shown).
The brassiere 10 includes a pair of fabric breast cups 16-18.
A center strap 20 and side straps 22 along with shoulder straps 24, providea means for interconnecting the breast cups 16, 18, and maintaining themin a spaced apart relationship, while enabling the breast cups 16, 18 tobe worn by the user 12 in a conventional manner.
As shown in the broken away view of FIG. 2 and the perspective view of FIG.3, breast pillows 28 provide a means for augmenting and uplifting a user'sbreasts 30, 32 as will be hereinafter described in greater detail.
More particularly, the breast pillows 28 comprise a pliable pouch 34 forcontaining a breast implant type of gel 38. The pouch 34 may be formedfrom any suitable thin pliable plastic-like material which will notinhibit the resiliency or feel of the breast implant type gel 38. Suitableimplant type gels are available from Dow Corning and include dielectricgels such as No. 527, or Q-272218 gel, which has a consistency equivalentto implantable gels.
The pouch 34 is covered by a washable fabric 40, naturally, the fabric 40must be selected to sufficiently sheer so as not to inhibit thetissue-like resiliency of the gel 38. In addition, it is preferable thatthe pouch 34 is properly sealed and sufficiently strong to enable thebreast pillows 28 to be washed, thus enabling use over prolonged periodsof time.
Turning again to FIG. 3, the breast pillows 28 are generally crescentshaped, having a generally arcuate bottom 42, with a generally tapered topportion 44 for uplifting the user's breasts 30, 32.
As best shown in FIG. 4, the breast pillows 28 are retained within thebreast cup 16, 18 by means of a pocket 46 defined in a lower half.
The pocket 46 includes a liner 50, attached to a bottom edge 54 of thebreast cups 16, 18 and a pair of overlapping flaps 56, 58, with flap 56being attached to the breast cup 16, 18 and the flap 58 attached to a top60 of the liner 50. The flap 58 and liner 50 may be formed from a singlepiece of material, but it is important that no seams or attachmentmechanisms be present which may disturb the contact between the breastpillow top 44 and an underside of the breast 32 (see FIG. 5) which maycause discomfort or interrupt with the confirmation of the breast pillow28 with the breast 32.
The pocket 46 and the straps 20, 22, 24 are sized and positioned to enablethe tapered top of 44 of the breast pillow 28 to engage the underside 62of the user's breast 32. (See FIG. 5). The tapered top 44 provides abreast enhancing engagement between the breast pillow 28 and the underside62. This configuration coupled with the use of the bust implant type gel38 permits a unique support and enhancement for the user's breasts 30, 32.In combination therewith, the breast cups 16 18 are sized for enabling theuplifted breasts 32 to exert downward and outward pressure on the breastpillows 28, causing the breast pillows 28 to conform with augment andsimulate the underside of the user's breast. This is shown in solid lineof FIG. 5. A representation of the breast 32a is also shown in FIG. 5,without the brassiere 10 in accordance with the present invention inplace.
It should be appreciated that the breast pillows 28 may be made in varioussizes and, of course, are interchangeable within the breast cups 16, 18.
Depending upon the intended use of the bra, a support 64 may be disposedalong the bottom 54 of each breast cup 16, 18 for limiting downwardmovement of the breast pillows 28. Again, depending upon the intended usefor the brassiere 10, the support 64 may be an elastic band for athleticuse or, as shown in FIG. 4, may comprise a rigid arcuate member, such as awire 66, for formal attire.
In that regard, the present invention encompasses a brassiere ensemblewhich includes a plurality of brassiere shells, including breast cups 16,18 and straps 20, 22 and 24 of various configurations, shapes, sizes andof different materials, each including pouches 34 for supporting thebreast pillows 28. The breast pillows 28 are interchangeable in any of thebreast cups 16, 18, thus enabling a single set of breast pillows 28 to beused with a great number of bras. Also, in that regard, the breast pillows28 may be sized with increasing volume in order that the user may selectdifferent breast enhancement for different occasions.
Although there has been hereinabove described specific arrangements of abrassiere with augmenting bust support, in accordance with the invention,for the purpose of illustrating the manner in which the invention may beused to advantage, it will be appreciated that the invention is notlimited thereto. Accordingly, any and all modification, variations, orequivalent arrangements which may occur to those skilled in the art shouldbe considered to be within the scope of the invention as defined in theappended claims.