Abstract:
A garment for supporting a woman&#39;s chest in the form a brassiere with breast supporting cups supported by an wire element of variable stiffness formed of a solid wire linearly joined to a cable of greater flexibility than the solid wire, and with the ends of the support wire having protective balls.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application is directed to the inventions described in U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/239,410 filed Oct. 11, 2000 and claims priority of said application. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention is directed to garments such as brassieres and bathing suits having flexible, supportive elements forming a frame for the garment.  
           [0003]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,774 is directed to garments including brassieres having metallic wires or frames as stiffening members. The wires disclosed therein have a generally U-shaped configuration extending along the periphery of the brassiere cups. The wires are secured to the garment by enclosing and stitching the wires within the fabric along the perimeter of the brassiere cups.  
           [0004]    The &#39;774 patent provides a multifilament twisted and drawn cable support member attached to the lower perimeter of each brassiere cup portion to provide support for each cup in a manner comfortable to the wearer. The cable support member is a plurality of nickel-titanium wires or stainless steel wires, or wires of other metals or alloys. The twisted and drawn cables provide excellent support for the cup portions of the brassiere, and the cables being very flexible are not prone to poking through the material of the brassiere.  
           [0005]    The present invention is directed to improvements of the garment disclosed in the &#39;774 patent.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    In accordance with the present invention, garments including brassieres and women&#39;s bathing suits are provided with frames comprising wire members of variable stiffness as supporting members. The frames have a generally U-shaped configuration extending along the periphery of the brassiere cups. The frames themselves are formed of a solid wire segment and a wire of greater flexibility such as a multifilament drawn wire or braided or stranded wire segment with the segments joined by linearly suitable means such as butt welding.  
           [0007]    In one embodiment, a variable stiffness frame for a brassiere support cup is fabricated of one-half solid wire and one-half multifilament drawn or braided or stranded wire joined at the midpoint of the frame. In another embodiment, the frame comprises two-thirds solid wire joined to one-third a wire of greater flexibility such as multifilament drawn wire or braided or stranded wire. In another embodiment, the frame comprises a center section of a wire of greater flexibility such as multifilament drawn wire or braided or stranded wire joined at its ends to terminal sections of solid wire. In still another embodiment of the invention, a unitary frame for both cups of a brassiere comprises adjacent generally U-shaped cup supporting members of solid wire joined at their inner ends by a center section of a wire of greater flexibility such as multifilament drawn wire or braided or stranded wire. The center section may be described as an inverted U-shaped section with ends linearly joined to the inner ends of the cup supporting members.  
           [0008]    In another aspect of the invention, each terminal end of each cup supporting frame member is provided with a sphere joined thereto to protect the garment as well as the wearer from poking by the ends of the wire frames. The sphere can be flattened into a disc shape. The protective spheres and discs are made part of the embodiments of garment variable stiffness support frames described just above as well being made part of support frames of solid Nitinol wire.  
           [0009]    In accordance with the invention the support frames are secured to a garment by enclosing and stitching the wires within the fabric along the perimeter of the brassiere cups.  
           [0010]    A garment according to the invention possesses a variable stiffness wire support wherein the breast is supported laterally to prevent the breast from flowing sideways, and to direct breast flow toward the center to create “cleavage”. Directing breast flow toward the center is achieved by locating the flexible multifilament drawn wire or wires in the center of the support frame. A support frame having greater flexibility toward the center is also advantageous when the user is running or jogging.  
           [0011]    Additional advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the detailed description taken in conjunction the accompanying drawing. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a front view of a garment according to the invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a front view of a garment cup support member of solid wire with balls affixed to its tips.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a front view of a modified embodiment of garment cup support member of combined solid wire and a wire of greater flexibility such as multifilament drawn or braided or stranded wire with balls affixed to its tips.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a front view of another modified embodiment of garment cup support member of combined solid wire and a wire of greater flexibility such as multifilament drawn or braided or stranded wire with balls affixed to its tips.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is a front view of another modified embodiment of garment cup support member of combined solid wire and a wire of greater flexibility such as multifilament drawn or braided or stranded wire with balls affixed to its tips.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6 is a front view of another modified embodiment of garment cup support member of combined solid wire and a wire of greater flexibility such as multifilament drawn or braided or stranded wire with balls affixed to its tips. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]    Referring to FIG. 1, a garment such as a brassiere  10  according to the invention comprises a pair of frontal cup portions  12  made of flexible material for covering the chest of the wearer. Each of the cup portions  12  has a perimeter and a lower edge  14 , an inner edge  16 , and an outer edge  18  which together define a lower portion  19  of the perimeter. In accordance with the invention, a variable stiffness support element  20  comprising a combined solid wire and a wire of greater flexibility such as multifilament drawn wire or braided or stranded wire is sewn along the lower portion of the perimeter. A front portion  30  of the garment is provided with material and/or coupling means connecting the inner edges  16  of the cup portions to each other. A back portion  32  of the garment has material and/or coupling means extending around the back of the wearer for connecting the outer edges  18  of the cup portions together. One or other of the front and back portions  30 ,  32  is preferably divided into two subsections  34 ,  35  and includes releasable coupling means  36  such as cooperating hooks and loops to facilitate donning and doffing the garment. The garment may include shoulder straps  38  to couple the back portions to the cup portions for additional support.  
         [0019]    In one aspect of the invention shown in FIG. 2, a brassiere support element  17  comprises a solid Nitinol U-shaped wire  20  with ball elements  22 ,  24  in the form of spheres or discs affixed to each end of the support element. The ball elements may be prefabricated balls or created by melting the element tips with either a plasma welder or a laser welder. The balls may be the same or larger diameter of the cable defining the element. The balls may optionally be flattened into a disc shape. The sphere and disc whichever is used prevent injury to the garment and to the wearer. The support elements are also preferably coated with a thermoplastic elastomer  25  by extrusion or heat shrinking, for example. The elastomer provides a cushioning effect.  
         [0020]    In another aspect of the invention shown in several embodiments in FIGS.  3 - 5  a brassiere support element  40  comprises a U-shaped support formed of linearly joined solid wire  42  and multifilament drawn wire or braided or stranded wire  44 .  
         [0021]    The brassiere support element  50  of FIG. 6 comprises a unitary double U-shaped structure of solid wire  52  joined by a central multifilament drawn wire section or braided or stranded wire  54 .  
         [0022]    The multifilament drawn wire  44 ,  54  comprises a twisted and drawn or swaged cable support element manufactured as follows. Several filaments or wires preferably of nickel-titanium, stainless steel, or other metals or alloys or combinations thereof are twined together to form a wire rope. The wire rope is drawn through a die to reduce its diameter. Preferably, the wire is successively drawn through several dies decreasing the diameter and plastically deforming the wires so that the cable takes a substantially circular cross-section. The cable is preferably heated to remove cold working.  
         [0023]    In a preferred embodiment, the wire rope is drawn through four dies of decreasing diameter resulting in a cable with diameter 30-40% smaller than the wire rope. In lieu of drawing, the wire rope can be swaged to reduced diameter and circular cross-section.  
         [0024]    A cable made in this manner exhibits relatively high flexibility, high torque modulus, light weight, and high strength.  
         [0025]    In modified form, the support element may be formed of braided or stranded wire in the place of multifilament drawn wire to achieve variable stiffness in conjunction with Nitinol wire. Braiding and stranding are known techniques for making wire.  
         [0026]    Referring to FIG. 3, a support element comprises a U-shaped wire of approximately one-half solid wire  42  and one-half multifilament drawn wire or braided or stranded wire  44  butt welded to each other at  40   a  and fitted with terminal protective balls or discs  22 ,  24  as described above in connection with FIG. 2.  
         [0027]    Referring to FIG. 4, a support element  40  comprises a U-shaped wire of approximately two-thirds solid wire  42  and one-third multifilament drawn wire or braided or stranded wire  44  butt welded to each other at  40   a  and fitted with terminal protective balls or discs  22 ,  24  as described above in connection with FIG. 2.  
         [0028]    Referring to FIG. 5, a support element  40  comprises a U-shaped wire of approximately two solid wire end sections  42 ,  43  each being approximately two-fifths of the element together with a bottom or central multifilament drawn wire or braided or stranded wire  44  being approximately one fifth of the element. The sections are butt welded to each other at  40   a  and fitted with terminal protective balls or discs  22 ,  24  as described above in connection with FIG. 2.  
         [0029]    Referring to FIG. 6, a support element  50  comprises a double U-shaped wire  51  of solid wire terminal portions  52  and an inverted U-shaped central portion  54  multifilament drawn wire or braided or stranded wire butt welded to each other at  50   a  and fitted with terminal protective balls or discs  22 ,  24  as described above in connection with FIG. 2.  
         [0030]    It will be appreciated that a variable stiffness support element for brassieres and the like provides breast support wherein breast flow is directed toward the center of the supporting garment aided principally by the location of solid wire sections to the outer lateral margins of the support cups and providing a multifilament drawn or braided or stranded wire section at the inner lateral margin of the support cups. In the case of a unitary double cup support frame, the solid wire sections are placed under and to the outer lateral margins of each support cup with the solid wire sections joined by a central inverted U-shaped multifilament drawn or braided or stranded wire.  
         [0031]    Various changes may be made to the support elements embodying the principles of the invention. The foregoing embodiments are set forth in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is defined by the claims appended hereto.