Abstract:
A brassiere for use while nursing or pumping to help in the release of breast milk from the milk ducts of a woman&#39;s breast by applying steady and uniform pressure to the periphery of the breast with a stretchable compression material, with the pressure directed radially inward toward a centerline of the breast and outwardly through the nipple of the breast, to place pressure on the milk ducts and to assist in pushing milk out of the nipples. The nursing brassiere lifts the breast to assist in handling the breast while nursing and enables for a more relaxed breast-feeding or pumping experience.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention relates generally to foundation garments, and particularly to brassieres, which allow or promote the release of breast milk from the breast area of a human female. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Breastfeeding has been highly promoted through grass roots efforts since the 1950&#39;s and has been increasingly advertised for its benefits since then. The Office on Women&#39;s Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has stated breast milk is like human gold for all of its benefits to not only the baby but also the nursing mother. The Office on Women&#39;s Health stated breast milk benefits the baby because it is easier to digest than formula and the cells, hormones, and antibodies in breast milk protect babies from illness by fighting disease. Breast milk was also stated to help the mother by saving money on formula cost, helps to bond with child, and lowers the mothers risk of developing type-2 diabetes, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and postpartum depression. 
         [0003]    While breastfeeding has many benefits, it is not always easily accomplished by nursing mothers. The breast may become sore due to a plugged lactiferous duct (“duct”) in the woman&#39;s breast. This occurs when the milk in the mother&#39;s breast is producing faster than it is being expressed out. When a duct is plugged inflammation may occur and the breast will become very tender. Additionally, when the breast becomes tender from a plugged duct continued nursing can be difficult and can lead to a fever in the nursing mother. Experts have suggested that nursing mothers nurse or pump as often as possible to prevent a plugged duct, and to firmly massage the sore area to try to unplug the ducts. 
         [0004]    While there are many different types and variations of nursing brassieres to assist a nursing mother in supporting the breast and to provide easy access to the nipple to nurse a child, there is a need for a brassiere to assist the nursing mother in actually expressing breast milk and help prevent or alleviate a clogged milk duct, and to apply a constant and uniform pressure to the breast to assist in releasing any already clogged milk ducts. None of the prior known brassieres appear to resolve this specific issue. 
         [0005]    One attempt at such a brassiere is U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,876 to Scullin, which is directed to a brassiere intended for nursing and maternity, to name a few. The brassiere includes stretchable material (like spandex) and would provide as much support as a regular brassiere to the breast. This patent noted the ability of the brassiere to comfortably expand and contract due to stretchable material which is used. The patent discloses a brassiere with “smooth lines which aid in the comfort of the wearer”—thus, it does not provide for the use of wires to provide support. The patent also provides for open cups which exposes the breast, and is designed to continue to support the breast when exposed. The disclosed brassiere suffers from the inability to provide an equal and uniform compression to the breast to assist in releasing a mother&#39;s milk while nursing. 
         [0006]    Another attempt at such a device is U.S. Pat. No 5,024,628 to Sanchez. This patent describes many different strap variations to the nursing brassiere. This patent, in particular, notes the use of a wide strap which connects and attaches by the use of hook and loop members, such as VELCO™ being sewn to the straps to make the brassiere more comfortable and user-friendly. However, this brassiere suffers in substantially the same way since it is unable to provide an equal and uniform compression to the breast to assist in releasing a mother&#39;s milk while nursing. 
         [0007]    Other brassieres have attempted to provide additional features to the brassiere in order to benefit the wearer. Devices such as U.S. Pat. No. 6,983,489 to Caprio and U.S. Pat. No. 2013/0,288,569 to Joeybra. The Joeybra &#39;569 patent is directed to a brassiere including a pocket in a wing of the brassiere. The Caprio &#39;489 patent is directed to a nursing brassiere in which the front panel is divided into upper and lower sections whereby the upper section is overlapped and is attached to the lower section through a detached seam below the breast and which covers the abdominal area of the wearer. The Caprio &#39;489 patent provides an upper and lower section attached via press studs, a VELCRO® and loop fastener, hooks and eyes, magnetic strips, zips, buttons, or slide fasteners. The Joeybra &#39;569 patent and the 
         [0008]    Caprio &#39;489 patent only provide additional features to a traditional brassiere as is known to those skilled in the art, and do not provide support to a nursing mother in relieving or alleviating breast pain from clogged ducts or assistance to a nursing mother in expressing breast milk. 
         [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,450 issued to Mankovitz is directed to a brassiere intended to facilitate the drainage of lymphatic fluid from the breast area of a female. The Monkovitz &#39;450 patent states that the brassiere applies a compression force to assist drainage of lymphatic fluid away from the nipple area in an upward direction along the direction of the lymph pathways. Even though this patent speaks to a compression force, the compression force is not directed in a downward direction toward the nipple to help release breast milk out of the breast of a woman. In fact, this patent teaches away from this practice by instructing that the compressive force should be directed away from the nipple. This patent is also directed toward alleviating problems associated with every day long term use of a brassiere worn by a woman, and not specifically for use by a nursing mother. 
         [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,702 issued to Sarango also teaches a method of compressing the breast. However, the Sarango &#39;702 patent is directed toward a mechanical medical device, and not a brassiere used by nursing mothers. 
         [0011]    U.S. Pat. No. 8,357,024 issued to Baker-Jackson is directed toward a stretchable band to be used while nursing. The Baker-Jackson &#39;024 patent is directed to a band for applying force to the breast. The intended reason for the force in the Baker-Jackson &#39;024 patent is to securely support the breast upward to prevent suffocation of the nursing baby and not to apply downward compression to release milk. Therefore, the Baker-Jackson &#39;024 patent does not provide any inward and horizontal downward compression to the breast to assist in releasing a mother&#39;s milk while nursing. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0012]    From the foregoing, it would be desirable to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art brassiere by providing a brassiere for nursing mothers with a uniform compression to the periphery of the breast to assist in preventing and alleviating clogged milk ducts, and to further allow enough compression to assist in releasing milk from a breast of a nursing mother. Therefore, the intended material in contact with a woman&#39;s breast would be of a certain type of compression material to apply inward and horizontal pressure to the breast assisting in squeezing milk out of nursing mother&#39;s breast. 
         [0013]    It would further be desirable to provide a brassiere including stretchable material to support the back and breast of a nursing woman while nursing. It would also be desirable to have an exposed nipple allowing for easy nursing while allowing very limited breast exposure to assist in supporting the breast upward. The limited breast exposure would also assist a nursing mother in the handling of the breast to prevent excessive touching of the breast while nursing, thus limiting bacteria exposure, due to handling the breast without touching the breast because of the breast being covered by the compression material. It would further be desirable to provide extra wide straps with a VELCRO® attachment and bra type support with no wires for added comfort and support. It would also be desirable to provide additional features to comfort the nursing mother by providing a detachable piece of material to cover the abdominal area while nursing, a timer to assist in monitoring the feeding time, and an accessible pocket to place a music player or other items in the brassiere while nursing. 
         [0014]    A nursing brassiere is disclosed and taught herein with compression sleeve breast cups with an aperture of sufficient size to allow primarily an exposed areola. The compression sleeve cups operate to apply an equal and uniform pressure to the periphery of the breast to assist in expressing milk out of a nursing mothers breast. 
         [0015]    The nursing brassiere provides a bosom-supporting foundation garment having compression sleeves as breast cups covering the periphery of the breast of a woman with an aperture large enough to primarily expose only the areola of the breast. The compression sleeves can provide enough pressure on the breast to assist in releasing milk from the milk ducts and out of the woman&#39;s nipple. In addition, the breast sleeve cups can be connected to a wide strap to allow the nursing mother to pull her breast up with the wide straps and to secure the straps down, in order to provide more support and lift of the breast to assist in easy nursing of her child. 
         [0016]    The nursing brassiere can also include being substantially made of stretchable material with no wires, while providing as much, if not more, support to the back, breast, and upper body as a traditional brassiere known in the field. The nursing brassiere can also include a detachable piece of material from the brassiere to cover the abdominal area while nursing, a timer to assist in monitoring the feeding time, and an accessible pocket to place a music player or other items in the brassiere while nursing. 
         [0017]    Other applications of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art when the following description of the best mode contemplated for practicing the invention is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0018]    The description herein makes reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views, and wherein: 
           [0019]      FIG. 1  is a front view of a nursing brassiere with the breast sleeve cups connected together with a middle portion defining a first style; 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the nursing brassiere of the first style with the breast sleeves disconnected at the shoulder straps and hanging down; 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of the nursing brassiere of the first style with the breast sleeves connected at the shoulder straps and with additional accessory features noted; 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the nursing brassiere with separate individual breast sleeves cups, i.e. that are not connected directly to the nursing brassiere defining a second style; 
           [0023]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the nursing brassiere with the breast sleeves connected to a body of a foundational support defining a third style with a front closure; 
           [0024]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the nursing brassiere of the third style with a back closure; 
           [0025]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the nursing brassiere of the third style with a pocket accessory on the brassier; 
           [0026]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the nursing brassiere of the third style with lower side panels; and 
           [0027]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of the nursing brassiere in use while nursing an infant. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0028]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a front perspective view of a nursing brassiere with breast sleeve cups  16  connected together with a breast sleeve middle portion  37 . The breast sleeve cups  16  are configured to substantially cover the breast of the woman, with each of the pair of breast sleeve cups made of stretchable compression material completely encircling an external periphery of the breast for providing compressive pressure directed radially inward toward a centerline of the breast, the centerline of the breast extending outwardly through the nipple of the breast, the sleeve of stretchable compression material for placing pressure on milk ducts of the breast to assist in release of breast milk from the milk ducts, the stretchable compression material providing a constant and uniform pressure to breast tissue around the external periphery of the breast and in an outward direction toward the nipple to push milk from the milk ducts and out of the nipple. The breast sleeve cups  16  are generally connected to secondary shoulder straps  114  (or  14  as shown in  FIG. 5 ) and attach to primary straps  112 , also shown in  FIG. 2 . The breast sleeve cups will include an aperture of sufficient size to allow primarily an areola of the breast of a woman to be exposed  28  for access to the nipple by a child. The breast sleeve cups  16  and the secondary shoulder straps  114  (or  14  as shown in  FIG. 5 ) will operate as one piece of the entire brassiere, and connects to the body support section  20 , the foundation of the brassiere, along the lower and side edges of the body support aperture  52 . 
         [0029]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , the body support section  20  is shaped similarly to a sports brassiere, but with a pair of large apertures of sufficient size to allow the entire breast of a woman to go through. The body support section, therefore, will have a front portion  22  connected extending through side portions  24  (also shown in  FIG. 2 ) to a back portion  26  (as also shown in  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 ). The front portion  22  connects to a middle section  18  and each of the pair of breast cups  16 . The side portions  24  connect to the front portion  22  with one side portion connecting to one each of the pair of breast cups  16 . The back portion  26  extends between the side portions and has a top edge. The primary shoulder straps  14 ,  114  connect to the top edge of the back portion  26 . Additionally, the entire body support section is intended to be made of stretchable material that can also provide for support to the body and back, like spandex. 
         [0030]    Referring now to the shoulder straps  10  as seen in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 5 , both the primary straps  112  of  FIG. 1  (or  12  as shown in  FIG. 5 ) and the secondary straps  114  of  FIG. 1  (or  14  as shown in  FIG. 5 ) of the shoulder straps  10  are intended to be wide in width in comparison to traditional brassieres known in the field for the added comfort and support due to a woman&#39;s breast becoming larger and heavier while nursing. The shoulder straps  10  of the nursing brassiere having a width of between approximately a half-inch (½″) to approximately three inches (3″) wide, inclusive. Additionally, the primary shoulder straps  112  (or  12  in  FIG. 5 ) and the secondary shoulder straps  114  (or  14  in  FIG. 5 ) connect generally near an upper portion of a shoulder of the woman  30  as can be seen in  FIG. 5  by at least one fastener. The at least one fastener can be selected from a group including press studs, hook and loop fasteners, buttons, adjustable length strap connectors, convertible configuration strap connectors, and any combination thereof  32  as can be seen in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0031]    The wearer of the nursing brassiere as shown in  FIG. 1  would open the front closure  136 , which is in the front middle section  18  of the body support  20 , detach the secondary shoulder straps  114  from the primary shoulder straps  114 , and pull the nursing brassiere over the head, arms through the straps and pull the bottom  22  of the brassiere below to a position under the bust, ensuring that the breasts are fully through the apertures of the body support and resting into the breast sleeve cups.  FIG. 2  illustrates a view of the nursing brassiere with the secondary straps down. Once the nursing brassiere is situated on the body, the wearer can adjust their breasts within the sleeves of the breast sleeve cups through the opening of the front closure  136 . Once the breasts are securely in place with the areola centered to the aperture of the breast sleeve cup, the wearer of the nursing brassiere can close the front closure, pull up the secondary shoulders  114  and attach the secondary shoulder straps  114  to the primary shoulder straps  112  to secure the breast sleeves and to pull up the breast, and begin nursing a child. 
         [0032]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , there is shown a side perspective view of the nursing brassiere as already described with additional features that can be added to the nursing brassiere. First, a lower section  45  can be releasibly connectible with at least one fastener or attachment member  44  to a lower-band  42  on a lower edge of the body support section attached to the nursing brassiere to allow a nursing mother to cover her entire abdominal  45  while nursing or pumping. The releasable lower section can be attached by at least one fastener  44 . The at least one fastener can be selected from a group including press studs, hook and loop fasteners, hook and eyes, magnetic strips, zips, buttons and slide fasteners, and any combination thereof. Second, the breast sleeve cups can include a closure located along the aperture of the breast sleeves cups generally near a woman&#39;s areola to allow for hands-free breast pumping  40  by opening the closure and placing a breast pump suction cup on the breast and securing the suction cup to the breast by closing the closure. Third, the nursing brassiere can include a pocket  46  located on the body support section generally along a side portion adjacent to one of the pair of breast sleeve cups with the opening of the pocket along the top edge  48 . The pocket can either remain open at all times, or can have a closure to close the opening  50  along the top edge of the pocket. The pocket can allow the wearer of the nursing brassiere to place items in the pocket without falling out while nursing, like a music player, a cellular telephone, or small cloth. Fourth, the nursing brassiere can include a time keeping device and/or a breast indicator  52  located generally along one of the top of the breast cup and the middle section for keeping track of feeding times or indicating to the woman the appropriate breast to be used next for nursing, respectively. 
         [0033]    Referring now to  FIG. 4 , there is shown a front and side perspective view of a nursing brassiere with individual breast sleeves cups that are connected to one another eliminating the middle section  37  as previously shown in  FIG. 1 . The nursing brassiere of  FIG. 4  is substantially similar to the nursing brassiere of  FIGS. 1-3  in all respects except the pair of breast sleeve cups  16  are not designed to operate as one piece of the nursing brassiere along with the shoulder straps, but rather each breast sleeve cup  16  along with a corresponding secondary shoulder strap  114  will operate and function individually independent of one another. Additionally, the nursing brassiere of  FIG. 4  can differ respectively from the nursing brassiere of  FIGS. 1-3  in how the front closure is structured. The nursing brassiere of  FIG. 4  can include any of three variations of brassiere closures. First, the nursing brassiere can have the same front closure  136  as illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3 , where there is a closure between the lower band  22  and where the bottom edge of the breast sleeve middle portion  37  would have been. Second, the nursing brassiere can have a front closure  36 , as shown in  FIG. 5 , going completely through the top portion  34 , middle section  18 , as shown in  FIG. 5 , and lower band  22  of the brassiere allowing for the brassiere to be placed on a wearer by opening the closure, placing arms through primary straps  112  as if putting on a jacket, and then closing closures with press studs, VELCRO® hook and loop fastener, hooks and eyes, zips, buttons, slide fasteners, or other fasteners known to those skilled in the art, and then attaching the secondary straps  114  to the primary straps  112 . Third, the brassiere can also have a back closure  38  generally in a middle of the back section of the brassiere  26  allowing for the wearer of the brassiere to place the nursing brassiere on in the traditional way of most common brassieres known in the art by placing brassiere over the shoulders and closing back closures, and then attaching the secondary straps  114  to the primary straps  112  to provide the additional support and lift to assist while nursing. 
         [0034]    Referring now to  FIG. 5 , there is shown a front and side perspective view of nursing brassiere substantially similar to that of the nursing brassiere shown in  FIGS. 1-3  with respect to functionality, where the only changes in the nursing brassiere are related structure and design. In the nursing brassiere shown in  FIG. 5 , the breast sleeve cups  16  are configured to substantially cover the breast of the woman with each of the pair of breast sleeve cups made of stretchable compression material completely encircling an external periphery of the breast for providing compressive pressure directed radially inward toward a centerline of the breast. The centerlines of the breasts, for purposes of this discussion, extend outwardly through the nipple of each breast from the chest of the woman. The sleeve of stretchable compression material places pressure on milk ducts of the breast to assist in release of breast milk from the milk ducts. The stretchable compression material provides a constant and uniform pressure to breast tissue around the external periphery of the breast and in an outward direction toward the nipple to push milk from the milk ducts and out of the nipple. The breast sleeve cups  16  are generally connected to secondary shoulder straps  14  and attached to primary straps  12  along the top of a wearer&#39;s shoulders  30 . The breast sleeve cups include an aperture of sufficient size to allow primarily an areola of the breast of a woman to be exposed  28  for access to the nipple by a child. The breast sleeve cups  16  connect to the body support section  20  along all edges of the breast sleeves, and will generally flow into the secondary straps  14 . 
         [0035]    Additionally, in the illustrated configuration of  FIG. 5 , the body support section  20  connects to the compression material breast sleeve cups  16 , and flows into the middle section  18  and shoulder straps  10  to create the appearance of a one piece nursing brassiere that either opens in the front with a front closure  36  or opens in the back with a back closure  38  as shown in  FIG. 6 . Referring again to the body support section  20  of the nursing brassiere, the body support section can have a front portion  22  connected extending through side portions  24  to a back portion  26 . The front portion  22  connects to a middle section  18  and each of the pair of breast cups  16 . The side portions  24  connect to the front portion  22  with one side portion connecting to one each of the pair of breast cups  16 . The back portion  26  extends between the side portions and has a top edge. The primary shoulder straps  14  connect to the top edge of the back portion  26 . Additionally, the entire body support section is intended to be made of stretchable material that can also provide for support to the body and back, using a material having properties similar to spandex, elastane, lycra, or natural latex. Spandex, elastane, and lycra are synthetic fibers made of polyurethane-polyurea copolymer with resistance up to 600% elongation before rupture, and can be mixed with cotton or polyester. 
         [0036]    The shoulder straps  10  of the nursing brassiere illustrated in  FIG. 5  will function in substantially the same way as the nursing brassiere illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3 ; where the primary straps  12  and the secondary straps  14  are intended to be wide in width, in comparison to traditional brassieres known in the art, for the added comfort and support due to a woman&#39;s breast becoming larger and heavier while nursing. Except, in the nursing brassiere of  FIG. 5 , when the shoulder straps are not attached, no straps will be touching the shoulder of the wearer, and when the straps are attached both straps will rest on the shoulders of the wearer. Whereas, in the previous illustrated nursing brassiere of  FIGS. 1-3 , the primary shoulder straps  12  maintained contact with the wearer&#39;s shoulders regardless of the position of the secondary straps  14 , i.e. attached or detached. Additionally, the shoulder straps  10  of the nursing brassiere can have a width of between approximately a half-inch (½″) to approximately three inches (3″) wide, inclusive. The primary shoulder straps  12  and the secondary shoulder straps  14  connect generally near an upper portion of a shoulder of the woman  30  by at least one fastener. The at least one fastener can be selected from a group including press studs, hook and loop fasteners, buttons, adjustable length strap connectors, convertible configuration strap connectors, and any combination thereof  32 , as best seen in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0037]    Additionally, the illustrated nursing brassiere of  FIG. 5  differs from the illustration of  FIGS. 1-3  in how the front closure is structured, as similarly stated with respect to the illustration of the nursing brassiere of  FIG. 4 . The nursing brassiere of  FIG. 5  can have either one of two variations of brassiere closures. First, the nursing brassiere can have a front closure  36  going completely through the top portion  34  middle section  18 , and lower band  22  of the brassiere allowing for the brassiere to be placed on a wearer by opening the closure, placing arms through primary straps  12  as if putting on a jacket, and then closing closures with press studs, VELCRO® hook and loop fastener, hooks and eyes, zips, buttons, slide fasteners, or other fasteners known in the art and then attaching the secondary straps  14  to the primary straps  12 . Second, the brassiere can have a back closure  38 , as best seen in  FIG. 6 , generally in a middle portion of the back section of the brassiere  26  allowing for the wearer of the brassiere to place the nursing brassiere on in the traditional way of most common brassieres known in the art by placing the brassiere over the shoulder and closing the back closure, and then attaching the secondary straps  14  to the primary straps. 
         [0038]    Referring now to  FIG. 7 , there is shown a side perspective view of the nursing brassiere illustrated in  FIG. 6  as already described, with the additional feature of having a pocket  46 . As stated with respect to the illustrated nursing brassiere of  FIGS. 1-3 , the pocket  46  can be located on the body support section generally along a side portion adjacent to one of the pair of breast sleeve cups with the opening of the pocket along the top edge  48 . The pocket can either remain open at all times, or can have a closure to close the opening  50  along the top edge of the pocket. The pocket  46  can allow the wearer of the nursing brassiere to place items in the pocket without falling out while nursing, like a music player, a cellular telephone, or small cloth. The illustrated nursing brassiere of  FIGS. 6-7  can also include all of the other additional features noted in the illustrated nursing brassiere of  FIGS. 1-3 . Additionally, in the nursing brassiere of  FIGS. 6-7 , the side portions  24  of the body support section  26  can either be wide, as shown in  FIG. 7 , or narrow, as shown in  FIG. 8 . 
         [0039]    Referring now to  FIG. 9 , there is a side perspective view of a baby nursing while the woman is wearing a nursing brassiere as described above. The “x” marks in the figure represent the compression force being exerted on the breast to enable milk flow and to reduce stagnation which results in engorgement at the nipple.  FIG. 9  also shows the limited amount of breast tissue exposed, permitting a nursing mother to handle her breast without actually repeatedly touching the breast and placing germs on the breast, potentially spreading the germs to the nursing child. Additionally,  FIG. 9  demonstrates a nursing brassiere to not only enable compression along the natural elongated contour of the breast, but to also enable for a more relaxed and natural breast feeding experience for larger breasted women. 
         [0040]    While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, which scope is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures as is permitted under the law.