Abstract:
Disclosed is an apparatus to be worn by a user for providing sexual stimulus to a partner of the user. The apparatus comprises a harness to be worn by the user and a vibrating body supported by the harness. The vibrating body has at least one protrusion extending therefrom. The apparatus further comprises a pad securable to the vibrating body. The pad has at least one void corresponding to the at least one protrusion. The at least one void surrounds the at least one protrusion when the pad is secured to the vibrating body. The pad also has a bearing surface for transmitting vibrations from the vibrating body and the at least one protrusion to a surface of the user&#39;s partner&#39;s body.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of Invention 
     The present invention relates to sexual devices in general and in particular to an apparatus for providing vibratory stimulus to the partner of the user. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     Sexual climax or orgasm is frequently a desired result of sexual activity. However, many women have difficulty achieving sexual climax or orgasm without direct clitoral stimulation. Thus during sexual intercourse in which no direct clitoral stimulation occurs many women are not able to have an orgasm. For such women, other methods are necessary to achieve orgasm, such as, oral sex or manual or vibratory stimulation. Use of these methods is not currently possible during face to face positions. 
     Additional difficulties exist within female same-sex couples related to difficulty achieving orgasm. For such couples, many sexual positions do not achieve sufficient clitoral stimulation to achieve orgasm. For example, during face to face positions between female same-sex couples is often difficult for many women to have an orgasm. 
     Previous sexual aids have not adequately addressed the above difficulty. For example, devices to be worn by a male during intercourse, such as, for example U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2006/0030749 to Hung et al. are intended to be worn around the penis of a male user and are not therefore adapted to be worn by a female for female same-sex couples. Other devices, such as, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,547,717 to Green et al. are intended to be worn by female users only and do not directly stimulate the clitoris of the user&#39;s partner. Furthermore, other devices, such as, U.S. Pat. No. 6,991,598 to Klein stimulate the clitoris of the user instead of her partner. None of the previous devices enables a user to directly stimulate the clitoris of his or her partner during sexual activities to help her achieve orgasm. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to a first embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed an apparatus to be worn by a user for providing sexual stimulus to a partner of the user. The apparatus comprises a harness to be worn by the user and a vibrating body supported by the harness. The vibrating body has at least one protrusion extending therefrom. The apparatus further comprises a pad securable to the vibrating body. The pad has at least one void corresponding to the at least one protrusion. The at least one void surrounds the at least one protrusion when the pad is secured to the vibrating body. The pad also has a bearing surface for transmitting vibrations from the vibrating body and the at least one protrusion to a surface of the user&#39;s partner&#39;s body. 
     The vibrating body may include a plurality of protrusions wherein the pad includes a plurality of voids for surrounding the plurality of protrusions. The plurality of protrusions may correspond to the plurality of voids. The plurality of protrusions and the plurality of voids may be arranged in a regular array. 
     The vibrating body may include a vibration drive motor. The vibration drive motor may be a variable speed motor. The apparatus may further comprising a drive motor control for controlling the speed of the variable speed motor. The drive motor control may be located on the harness. 
     The harness may further include a mounting plate. The vibrating body may be secured to the mounting plate wherein the pad is secured to the vibrating body. The pad may be formed from a material selected from the group consisting of silicone, rubber, elastomers, foams and latex. The mounting plate may include an arcuately shaped lower edge adapted to be located adjacent to the genitals of a male wearer. The pad may further include an arcuately shaped lower edge corresponding to the arcuately shaped lower edge of the mounting plate and being adapted to be located adjacent to the genitals of a male wearer. 
     The protrusions may have distal ends wherein the bearing surface of the pad includes raised portions corresponding to the distal ends of the protrusions. The cavities may comprise bores extending through the pad wherein the at least one protrusion extends through the bores. The pad may include side walls extending therefrom for surrounding the vibrating body. The harness may be adapted to locate the vibrating motor and the pad proximate to a pelvic region of the user. 
     Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention wherein similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view, 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the apparatus of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of the control panel of the apparatus of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of  FIG. 1  taken along the line  4 - 4  according to a first embodiment of the present invention having enclosed protrusions. 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of  FIG. 1  taken along the line  4 - 4  according to a further embodiment of the present invention having exposed protrusions. 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of a female user wearing the apparatus of  FIG. 1   
         FIG. 7  is a front view of a male user wearing the apparatus of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an apparatus according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown generally at  10 . The apparatus  10  comprises a vibrating body  20 , a waist strap  12  and two thigh straps  14 . The vibrating body  20  includes a plurality of protrusions  22  extending therefrom. The apparatus  10  further includes a control interface  70  for controlling the vibration speed of the vibrating body  20  as will be further described below. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , an exploded view of the apparatus  10  is illustrated. The apparatus includes a harness  30 , a vibrating body  20  and a pad  60 . The harness includes the waist strap  12 , two thigh straps  14  and a mounting plate  32 . As illustrated, the thigh straps may be secured at their distal ends  15  to the waist strap  12 . The waist strap  12  and thigh straps  14  may also include adjusting buckles  16  and  18 , respectively for adjusting the fit of the harness. The adjusting buckles  16  and  18  may be of any known type, such as for example a belt buckle engaging within belt holes, D-ring type buckles, friction buckles, or mating buckles by way of non-limiting example. It will also be appreciated that although a waist belt harness with two thigh straps are illustrated and described, other harness types may also be useful for locating the vibrating body  20  at the appropriate position as desired by a user as further described below. 
     The mounting plate  32  comprises a substantially flat body having a front surface  40  and rear surface  42 . The mounting plate  32  includes two waist slots  34  and two thigh slots  36  for securing the waist strap  12  and the thigh straps  14  thereto, respectively. As illustrated, the mounting plate  32  may also include a lower edge  38  having an arcuate shape. 
     The vibrating body  20  comprises a body having front and rear surfaces  24  and  26 , respectively. Located within the vibrating body  20  is a vibrating motor (not shown) as is conventionally known in the art. The vibrating motor may comprise a rotating electrical motor with an eccentrically weighted shaft. The body of the vibratory body  20  may be constructed of any suitable material such as plastic, rubbers or the like. The vibratory body  20  may be secured to the mounting plate  32  by any known method such as, screws, clips, adhesives or latches by way of non-limiting example. 
     The protrusions  22  extend from the front surface  24 . As illustrated the protrusions may extend normally from the front surface, although it will be appreciated that the protrusions may extend from the front surface at other angles as well. Additionally, the protrusions  22  may also extend from the front surface  24  parallel to each other although other relative orientations to each other may also be useful. In the embodiment illustrated, the apparatus  10  includes 9 protrusion arranged in a regular 3 by 3 array although other numbers and arrangements of protrusions may also be utilized. The protrusions  22  extend from the front surface  24  at a distance of between ¼ and 1 inch. In particular it has been found that protrusion lengths of between ¼ and ½ inch have been particularly useful. The protrusions may be formed of the same material as the vibratory body  20  or may optionally be formed of a different material and adhered thereto. In such embodiments, the protrusions  22  may be formed of any suitable material to transmit vibration therethrough, such as, by way of non-limiting example, vinyl, acrylic, latex, plastic or rubber coated metal or elastomers. The protrusions  22  may be secured to the vibratory body  20  by any known method, such as, for example, by threaded lugs, screwing, using adhesives or unit casting with the vibratory body. The protrusions  22  may have a circular or any other suitable cross section and may be substantially cylindrical or may have a taper from the front surface  24  of the vibrating body  20  to their distal ends  28 . The distal ends  28  of the protrusions may have a domed, tapered, or pointed shape as desired by the user. 
     The pad  60  comprises a body of semi-rigid material for providing cushioning between the vibratory body  20  and the partner of the user. The pad  60  may be formed of any know material suitable for cushioning and for use in a sexual device, such as, for example, silicone, rubber, elastomers, foams or latex. The pad  60  has a rear surface  66  and a bearing or front surface  64  with a plurality of raised portions  62  extending therefrom. The pad  60  may also include a bottom edge  68  having an arcuate shape. The raised portions  62  have cavities  65  therebehind for receiving the protrusions  22  of the vibrating body  20  therein when the rear surface  66  of the pad  60  is secured to the front surface  24  of the vibrating body  20  as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . The cavities  65  behind the raised portions  62  may be sized to closely surround the protrusions  22 . The pad  60  has a thickness sufficient to permit the raised portions  62  to cover the distal ends  28  of the protrusions  22 . The pad  60  may optionally have a side wall  67  adapted to surround the vibrating body  20  when the pad is secured thereto as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . In an alternative embodiment as illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the pad  60  may omit one or both of the side walls  67  or the raised portions  22 . In such an embodiment the cavities  65  comprise bores that permit the protrusions  22  to pass therethrough so as to extend past the front surface  64  of the pad  60 . The pad  60  may be secured to the vibrating body  20  by any know means, such as, by way of non-limiting example, gluing, screwing, or friction fit. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , the control interface  70  is illustrated. The control interface  70  comprises a control interface body  72  having a speed increase button  74  and a speed decrease button  76 . The control interface body  72  is secured to the waist strap  12  or to any other desired location on the harness. Control wires (not shown) are run through or along the harness to the vibrating motor in the vibrating body  20  to control the speed or intensity of the vibrations created thereby. The speed increase button  74  will increase the speed of the vibration motor and therefore the frequency while the speed decrease button will decrease the speed of the vibration motor and therefore the frequency of the vibrations thus created. 
     In operation, the harness  30  is worn by a user as illustrated in either  FIG. 4  or  5  with the vibrating body  20  secured to the mounting plate  32  and the pad  60  secured to the vibrating body. The may be applied to the body of the user such that the vibrating body  20  is located proximate to the pelvic region of the user. Thereafter, the user may engage in sexual activities with their partner such that the protrusions  22  or the raised portions  62  of the front surface  64  and the vibration of the vibrating body  20  stimulate the clitoris of the partner so as to assist the user&#39;s partner in achieving orgasm. It will be appreciated that the user and their partner may use the apparatus of the present invention in a variety of positions. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 4 , the apparatus  10  is shown applied to the body  6  of a female user  8 . In particular, a user may chose the wear the apparatus  10  applied to their mons or pubic region for use in grinding against their partner. The vibrating body  20  of the apparatus  10  may be secured to the body  6  by a waist strap  12  and two thigh straps  14 . As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , the apparatus  10  may also be applied to the body  6  of a male user  8 . As illustrated, the vibrating body  20  may be secured to the body  6  in a similar manner such that the lower edges  38  and  68  of the mounting plate  32  and pad  60  are proximate to the top of the genitals  9  of the male wearer  8 . It will therefore be appreciated that when an apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention is thus worn by a male user, he will be able to stimulate the clitoris of his female partner during face to face, or missionary position sexual intercourse. 
     While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting the invention as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.