Abstract:
A brassiere cup underwire and method of manufacturing the underwire and cup therewith. The underwire comprises a plastic strip capable of providing desired “firmness” or “hardness” along its length and thereby providing desired degrees of support therealong. The plastic strip comprises at least one layer of polymer and at least one layer of a second material, wherein the at least one layer of polymer and the at least one layer of the second material are in the form of sandwich. 
     Preferably, the plastic strip comprises at least two layers of polymer and at least one layer of the second material, with an adhesive applied therebetween to secure the layers to one another.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority under 35 USC 119 of HK Short Term Patent Application No.s HK11105043.3 and HK11105044.2, both filed May 23, 2011, entitled “Brassiere Cup Underwire” and “Method of Forming a Brassiere Cup”, respectively. For at least US purposes, the entire disclosure of these prior patent applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to brassieres. The invention more particularly, although not exclusively, relates to a brassiere having a specially formed underwire and/or other support features, and a method of manufacturing a cup for such a brassiere using the specially formed underwire. 
         [0003]    Known brassieres have a stiff metallic underwire sewn into the bottom of each cup. Such underwires may provide an adequate level of support but are uncomfortable, unsightly and can protrude from the brassiere after a time of use. Such metallic underwires are also of constant cross-section and stiffness throughout their length and therefore do not provide a desired level of variable support throughout their length. 
       OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the above disadvantages and/or more generally to provide an improved brassiere and brassiere cup underwire and/or other support feature, and method of manufacture therefore. 
       DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    There is disclosed herein a brassiere cup underwire comprising a plastics strip. Such underwire is capable of providing desired “firmness” or “hardness” along its length and thereby providing desired degrees of support therealong. 
         [0006]    Preferably, the plastic strip comprises at least one layer of polymer. 
         [0007]    The plastic strip may further comprise at least one layer of a second material, wherein the at least one layer of polymer and the at least one layer of the second material are in the form of sandwich. 
         [0008]    Preferably, the plastic strip comprises at least two layers of said polymer and the at least one layer of the second material is formed sandwiched between said at least two layers of said polymer. 
         [0009]    Preferably, the second material is selected from a group of polymer, fabric and foam. 
         [0010]    It is preferred that the plastic strip has a constant number of layers of the polymer and second material, so as to have a uniform crosswise dimension along its length. 
         [0011]    Alternatively, the plastic strip may have a variable number of layers of at least one of the polymer and second material along its length, so as to have a varied crosswise dimension along its length. 
         [0012]    Preferably, the dimension graduates from a minimum at one end of the underwire to a maximum at the other end of the underwire. 
         [0013]    Preferably, the polymer is ethylene vinyl acetate. 
         [0014]    Preferably, the polymer is resin. 
         [0015]    Preferably, the plastic strip is formed by layers of polymer and second material (adhered to each other in the form of a sandwich. 
         [0016]    Preferably, the underwire is initially formed by cutting a desired shape from the plastic strip. 
         [0017]    There is further disclosed herein a brassiere cup having the above-disclosed underwire located in an edge region thereof. 
         [0018]    Preferably, the underwire is located between layers of material from which the cup is formed, and even furthermore, the underwire is molded in place with formation of the cup. 
         [0019]    There is further disclosed herein a brassiere having a pair of the above-disclosed brassiere cups. 
         [0020]    Furthermore, there is disclosed herein a method of manufacturing a brassiere part with a plastic strip support feature, comprising the steps of: 
         [0021]    (a) providing at least one layer of a polymer; 
         [0022]    (b) providing at least one layer of a second material on top of the layer of polymer; 
         [0023]    (c) applying an adhesive at the interface between the at least one layer of polymer and the at least one layer of the second material, for causing said layers to adhere to each other and form a layered plastic strip. 
         [0024]    (d) cutting the plastic strip support feature from the layered plastic strip, where the size and shape of the plastic strip support feature corresponds to a desired size and shape for the plastic strip support feature of the brassiere part; 
         [0025]    (e) providing a mold for forming the brassiere part with a trough; 
         [0026]    (f) laying down in the mold a brassiere part material from which the brassiere part is to be formed, such that some of the brassiere part material extends into the trough; 
         [0027]    (g) positioning the plastic strip support feature upon the brassiere part material that extends into the trough; and 
         [0028]    (h) applying heat to the mold sufficient to soften the layer of polymer so that it consolidates into a desired shape as defined by the shape of the trough. 
         [0029]    Preferably, the second material may be selected from a group of foam, fabric and polymer; 
         [0030]    Preferably, the brassiere part is a cup and the plastic strip support feature is an underwire, wherein the plastics material consolidates in the trough to form the underwire of variable or uniform width and/or depth from one end of the underwire to the other. 
         [0031]    Optionally, the methods disclosed above may further comprise providing additional layers of polymer as well as additional layers of second material sandwiched therebetween. 
         [0032]    Even furthermore, further layers of material from which the brassiere cup is to be formed can be laid down so as to cover the plastic material in the trough before the step of applying heat. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0033]    Preferred forms of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0034]      FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective illustration of a brassiere; 
           [0035]      FIG. 2  is a schematic elevation of a underwire; 
           [0036]      FIG. 3  is a schematic cross-sectional end elevation of a thick end portion of the underwire of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0037]      FIG. 4  is a schematic cross-sectional end elevation of a thin end portion of the underwire of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0038]      FIG. 5  is a schematic cross-sectional elevation of a prior art underwire; 
           [0039]      FIG. 6  is a schematic elevation of the prior art underwire of  FIG. 5 ; 
           [0040]      FIG. 7  is a schematic cross-sectional elevation of the underwire of  FIG. 2 ; 
           [0041]      FIG. 8  is a schematic elevation of the underwire of  FIG. 7 ; 
           [0042]      FIG. 9A  is a cross-sectional view of the non-uniform material of which a plastic strip is made in accordance with one embodiment of the invention; 
           [0043]      FIG. 9B  is a cross-sectional view of the uniform material of which a plastic strip is made in accordance with another embodiment of the invention: 
           [0044]      FIG. 10  is a schematic perspective illustration of a mold used to form a brassiere cup with an underwire of variable depth along its length; and 
           [0045]      FIG. 11  is a schematic perspective illustration of a mold used to form a brassiere cup with an underwire of variable width along its length. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0046]    In  FIG. 1  of the accompanying drawings there is depicted schematically a brassiere  10  having a pair of breast cups, a pair of shoulder straps, a front band, a pair of underwires  11 , and a back strap which is an extension of the front band. The back strap is connected by hook and loop fasteners  40 . The brassiere also includes a pair of uplifting panels  14  and a reinforced central sternum area  17  between the cups. 
         [0047]    An underwire  11  is shown in  FIGS. 2 to 4 . Underwire  11  comprises a plastic strip. The plastic strip has at least one layer of polymer either alone or together with at least one layer of foam and/or fabric. Use of foam or fabric is a matter of choice subject to application. Optionally, the plastic strip may vary in thickness from a maximum as shown at A at one end of the underwire to a minimum as shown at B at the other end of the underwire. As noted above, alternatively, the underwire can be of variable width along its length. 
         [0048]    In this embodiment, the at least one layer of polymer  12  is placed between layers of foam  14  as shown in  FIGS. 7 and 8 . 
         [0049]    The variation of the thickness (or width) of the underwire is a matter of choice subject to the support desired. In this illustration, the thickness of the underwire varies gradually between A and B. The underwire  11  is surrounded by foam  13  as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The foam  13  and underwire  11  are typically molded into the bottom edge region of the brassiere cup during the manufacturing process. As an alternative, the underwire  11  could be positioned and held in place with respect to the brassiere cup for subsequent lamination of the underwires  11  into the brassiere cup itself. 
         [0050]    One end of the underwire  11  (typically the end closest to the wearer&#39;s shoulder) is the thickest, whereas the other end of the underwire  11  (typically the end nearest the wearer&#39;s sternum) is the thinnest. This provides a gradual reduction in stiffness of the underwire  11  along its length. In order to finely tune the degree of support and comfort along the length of the underwire  11 , differing materials and material thicknesses may be adopted. Indeed different configurations might be required for different cup sizes to suit the anatomy of different women. 
         [0051]      FIGS. 5 and 6  are included for comparison and show a typical prior art underwire structure. In the prior art, the underwire includes a central metallic wire  11 B surrounded by a metallic wire loop  11 A. These two parts are encased in foam  13 . Although the foam  13  provides some degree of protection from the hard metallic core, the stiffness of the wire results in discomfort. 
         [0052]      FIGS. 7 and 8  on the other hand show an underwire  11  made in accordance with the present invention and in which the underwire  11  is also surrounded by foam  13 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , the thickness or depth of the underwire  11  diminishes gradually from one end to the other. In this case the dimension A is greater than B. 
         [0053]      FIG. 7  shows underwire  11  having a plastic strip which has a layer of polymer  12  between layers of foam  14  and varies in thickness from a maximum as shown at A at one end of the underwire  11  to a minimum as shown at B at the other end of the underwire  11 . 
         [0054]    The underwire  11  is typically formed in and located at a transition position between the cup and the front band of the brassiere. The underwire  11  would be orientated with its flatter side facing the body of the wearer so that the convex side of the underwire  11  faces outwardly away from the body. The brassiere cup might be formed as a lamination of foam plastics material between layers of which the underwire  11  is located. 
         [0055]    In another embodiment, underwire  11  may be of constant uniform thickness throughout its length. The thickness of the underwire depends on the number of layers of polymer and the number of layers of foam and/or fabric used. 
         [0056]      FIG. 9A  shows a plastic material  20 , in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, from which the underwire  11  can be cut-out or otherwise manufactured from. Plastic material  20  is made so as to comprise one or more layers of polymer  12  and one or more layers of a second material  14  positioned in the form of sandwich with polymer  12 . The number of layers of polymer  12  and the number of layers of the second material  14  may vary along the length of the plastic material  20 , depending on the final shape and thickness of the desired underwire  11 . In a manner similar to what was described in the prior embodiments, the thickness (and/or width) of polymer  12  and the second material  14  may also vary. The embodiment of  FIG. 9A  shows one end of the material  20  is thicker than the other end by having an additional layer of polymer  12  and second material  14 . An underwire  11  of a desired shape and thickness may then be cut from the material  20  shown. It is noted that the desired shape cut from material  20  may correspond differently to the final/desired size and shape for the underwire, since its final shape may change somewhat during the molding process of the underwire with the rest of the brassiere cup, which molding process is described in conjunction with  FIG. 10  and  FIG. 11 . 
         [0057]      FIG. 9B  shows a plastic material  20  of which the underwire  11  of the present invention is made in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, material  20  also comprises layers of polymer  12  and layers of a second material  14  in the form of sandwich. However, unlike those shown in  FIG. 9A , the number of layers of polymer  12  and the number of layers of the second material  14  shown in  FIG. 9B  are constant along the length of the plastic material  20 , resulting in a uniform thickness of the plastic material  20 . An underwire  11  of a desired shape and thickness may then be cut from the material shown. 
         [0058]    Optional, an adhesive can be used at the interface between each layer of polymer and the at least one layer of the second material, for causing said layers to adhere to each other so they maintain their relative position during further processing. 
         [0059]    Optionally, the plastic strip may comprise one or more layer of polymer  12  only, without layers of the second material  14 . Second material  14  may be selected from the group of polymer, fabric and foam. 
         [0060]    It is indeed a matter of choice to have the plastic material having either only layer(s) of polymer or combination of layer(s) of polymer together with layer(s) of fabric and/or foam, subject to the amount of support desired. 
         [0061]      FIG. 10  shows a mold  15  in which a brassiere cup and underwire  11  are molded. The mold comprises a trough  16  defining the overall shape of the underwire  11 . The trough  16  is deep at A and shallow at B. The desired layers of fabric and/or foam material are set down upon the mold  15  and extend into the trough. Plastics strip of desired shape and thickness made of the plastic material  20  of  FIG. 9A  or  FIG. 9B  is then placed over the fabric and/or foam material which extends into the trough  16 . The deep end of the trough  16  accepts more plastic material  20  than the shallow end. Either during or after the molding process in which other layers of foam and/or fabric material are pressed against the plastics material  20  to encase it, heat sufficient to melt/soften the plastics material  20  and pressure is applied so that the plastic material  20  melts into a continuous strip of variable depth along its length and forms a whole piece of material together with the fabric and/or foam material. 
         [0062]      FIG. 11  shows a different mold  15  in which a brassiere cup and underwire are molded. The mold comprises a trough  16  defining the overall shape of the underwire  11 . The trough  16  of uniform depth is wide at A and narrow at B. The desired layers of fabric and/or foam material are set down upon the mold  15  and extend into the trough. Plastic strip of desired shape made of the plastics material  20  of  FIG. 9A  or  FIG. 9B  is then placed over the fabric and/or foam material which extends into the trough  16 . The wide end of the trough  16  accepts more plastic material  20  than the narrow end. Either during or after the molding process in which other layers of foam and/or fabric material are pressed against the plastics material  20  to encase it, heat sufficient to melt/soften the plastics material  20  and pressure are applied so that the plastic material  20  melts into a continuous strip of variable depth along its length and may form a whole piece of material together with the fabric and/or foam material. 
         [0063]    Features  40 ,  14  and  17  shown in  FIG. 1  are examples of other parts of a brassiere that can comprise reinforcing and support panels formed by practically the same method as described for manufacturing the underwire. These are areas of the brassiere that would typically require extra strength and provide additional support. For example, it might be desirable to incorporate a reinforcing pad behind typical hook and loop fasteners  40 . This would enable the user to more positively secure the hook fasteners to the loop fasteners. At the sternum region  17  between the brassiere cups, extra reinforcing might be desired. Furthermore, special uplifting panels  14  could be provided at the outer edge regions of each cup. Each of these features might be provided by a mold having a cavity to receive granular plastics material to be heat-melded in a manner similar to that described. Indeed, the uplifting panels  14  and sternum reinforcing area  17  could be formed integrally with the underwires as extensions thereof. 
         [0064]    It should be appreciated that modifications and alterations obvious to those skilled in the art are not to be considered as beyond the scope of the present invention. For example, rather than using continuous fixed length strips of polymer/foam/fabric materials in the method of manufacturing the plastics strip or underwire, continuous variable-length strips of polymer/foam material could be laid one upon another in stepwise manner such that thickness of the material varies along the plastic strip. These layers could then be melded together upon the application of heat and pressure to remove any steps between the layers. Furthermore, different thickness of polymer can be used together or separately to form a plastic strip. Even furthermore, two or more polymer layers can be used to form the plastic strip, where at least two of the polymer layers are comprised of a different polymer, chosen from the group of a resin, a PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) or EVA (Ethylene Vinyl Acetate). Accordingly, it is intended that the present invention not be limited to the described embodiments, but that it has the full scope suggested by the above-language, as well as equivalents thereof.