Foundation garments – Breast or chest – e.g. – brassieres – With stiffening strips – strands – or stays – e.g. – wired
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-21
2001-06-05
Calvert, John J. (Department: 3741)
Foundation garments
Breast or chest, e.g., brassieres
With stiffening strips, strands, or stays, e.g., wired
Reexamination Certificate
active
06241576
ABSTRACT:
I. APPLICATION AREA
The invention relates to a shaping frame which is intended for items of clothing supporting a woman's bust, and to an item of clothing for supporting a woman's bust.
II. TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
Such shaping frame usually consist of bent wire and are worked into the cups of corsetry, e.g. of bras, bikini tops, bustiers, etc. They retain the fabric of the corsetry in a dimensionally stable manner against the wearer's body even under mechanical loading, e.g. when the wearer is walking, and thus ensure a reliable fit and a well-shaped bust.
In mechanical terms, the shaping frame have to meet various requirements. On the one hand, they are to have the highest possible bending strength in relation to bending resulting from forces which occur in the plane defined by the bent frame (frame plane). On the other hand, they are to be as pliable and/or flexible as possible in relation to bending resulting from forces acting perpendicularly to the frame plane. Finally, a further requirement is to ensure the highest possible level of wearing comfort, i.e. to fulfil the two abovementioned requirements without the wearer having an unpleasant pressing or pinching feeling.
The round-wire shaping frames known from the prior art do not fully satisfy these requirements since they have a relatively high level of rigidity in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane. The likewise known shaping frames which consist of flat-rolled round wire and have a rectangular cross section, of which the long cross-sectional axis is located in the frame plane, fulfil the requirements to better effect since they are more pliable in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane than the shaping frames with a round cross section. If the width of these shaping frames is designed to be as small as possible in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane, in order to increase the flexibility in this direction, then, to counter this, the height of the rectangular cross section, located in the frame plane, has to be increased. This adversely affects, on the one hand, the wearing comfort and, on the other hand, the geometry of the ends of the shaping frames, which are relatively high in relation to their width, with the result that the operation of rounding off their sharp edges in order to protect the fabric of the item of clothing can only be carried out with relatively high outlay.
WO 95/19114 discloses a shaping frame with an I-shaped or bone-shaped cross section. There is also the problem here that it is not possible to reduce as desired the width of the cross section perpendicularly to the frame plane in order to achieve the highest possible level of flexibility in this direction.
DE-B 1 048 542 describes a stiffening frame for bras which has a C-shaped cross section. The C-profile of this known stiffening frame is arranged such that the frame plane runs essentially transversely through the central region of the C-curve. This results in a relatively high level of rigidity in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane, and this is increased further in that the C-profile is reinforced, in those regions of the stiffening frame which are subjected to particular loading, by means of a metal coating arranged in the cavity enclosed by the C-profile.
Furthermore, DE-A 29 02 065 discloses a supporting-wire arrangement which is intended for a bra and is made up of a relatively rigid U-shaped element and of a less rigid extension element. The two elements are arranged one behind the other in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane and are fixedly connected to one another along their congruent regions and at a plurality of locations by spot welding. This increases the rigidity in the congruent regions in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane.
The doubled corset reinforcement described in German Patent 76647 is made up of two spring-steel rods which are located one upon the other and are retained on one another such that they can be displaced with respect to one another in the event of loading in the longitudinal direction.
Finally, the prior art discloses shaping frame which are made of so-called memory metals and ensure excellent flexibility in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane. However, these frames also have a considerably lower level of rigidity in the frame plane and, moreover, memory metals cost so much as to preclude cost-effective production of shaping frame using these materials.
III. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
a) Technical Object
The object of the present invention is thus to provide a shaping frame which is intended for items of clothing supporting a woman's bust, and an item of clothing for supporting a woman's bust, said frame and item of clothing ensuring the highest possible level of rigidity in the frame plane and the highest possible level of flexibility in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane and, at the same time, being capable of being produced as cost-effectively as possible.
b) Achieving the Object
This object is achieved by means of a shaping frame and of an item of clothing according to claims
1
and
19
, respectively. Further configurations of the invention can be gathered from the subcdaims.
The invention proposes to configure a shaping frame, which is intended for items of clothing supporting a woman's bust, such that the frame comprises at least two frame elements which are arranged essentially one behind the other in the direction perpendicular to the plane defined by the frame, the so-called frame plane, the frame elements having essentially the same curvature on either side of the lowest point of the frame. The separating surface located between the frame elements is located essentially in the frame plane. “Essentially” in this context means that, rather than the separating surface having to be located absolutely mathematically precisely in the frame plane, it is also possible for it to be slightly inclined in relation to the frame plane or to assume the form of a curved surface, e.g. in the case of a C-shaped separating surface. The frame elements preferably butt against one another, but may also be spaced apart from one another, that is to say may form a narrow interspace in the form of a parting joint between them.
In contrast to a shaping frame made of memory metal, the shaping frame according to the invention may be produced relatively cost-effectively from wire or plastic, has a higher level of dimensional stability than the frame made of memory metal and, in relation to the known shaping frames consisting of wire, has the advantage that, with a comparatively high level of rigidity in the frame plane, ensures a high level of flexibility in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane. In particular, the relatively frequently occurring breakages of the known wire frames on account of the bending loading in the frame plane occur less frequently since the shaping frame according to the invention, on the one hand, easily bends out in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane in the case of excessive bending loading in the frame plane, and the high bending stressing of purely bending loading is reduced by bending/torsional loading being caused at the same time, and, on the other hand, along with the same level of flexibility in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane, it is possible to select a larger overall cross section.
If required, it is also possible to position three or more frame elements in layers. This may be desirable, for example, when the rigidity in the frame plane is increased further and, at the same time, the flexibility in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane is not to be adversely affected, which would be the case if there were an increase in merely the width of a two frame elements in the direction perpendicular to the frame plane. If more than two frame elements are used, then the planes of the in this case at least two separating surfaces are located in an essentially parallel, offset arrangement in relation to the central frame plane.
The at least two
Calvert John J.
Hoey Alissa L.
Rosenthal & Osha L.L.P.
Wilh, Wissner GmbH & Co., Kommandit-Gesellschaft
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