JP7601416B2 - bra - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a brassiere.

Brassieres that are designed to make not only the bust but also the décolleté look beautiful are known (for example, Patent Document 1).
[Prior Art Literature]
[Patent Documents]
[Patent Document 1] JP 2014-196583 A

In the first aspect of the present invention, the brassiere comprises a pair of left and right bust sections covering the bust, a pair of left and right bag-shaped storage sections provided above the bust sections, and a cushion stored in each of the storage sections, the cushion being formed from polyurethane foam, the polyurethane foam being mainly composed of toluene diisocyanate and polyether polyol, the glass transition temperature corresponding to the peak value of the loss tangent being 0°C or higher and 40°C or lower, the loss tangent in the frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 100 Hz being 0.4 or higher at a temperature of 0°C to 40°C, and the average value of the loss tangent in the frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 1 Hz being equal to or lower than the average value of the loss tangent in the frequency range of 10 Hz to 100 Hz.

The above summary of the invention does not list all of the features of the present invention. Also, subcombinations of these features may also be inventions.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the brassiere 10 according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1 is a view of the left side of the front body portion 100 as seen from the back side, i.e., the side closest to the wearer. For the sake of explanation, FIG. 3 shows a state in which the flaps 114 and 124 have been removed. FIG. 1 is a view of the cushion 190 as seen from the wearer's side when worn. FIG. 1 is a view of the pad 180 as seen from the wearer's side when worn.

The present invention will be described below through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Furthermore, not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

Figure 1 is a front view of the brassiere 10 according to this embodiment, and Figure 2 is a rear view of the brassiere 10. The brassiere 10 is formed integrally with a front body portion 100 and a rear body portion 160. The upper portions of the front body portion 100 and the rear body portion 160 are further connected on the left and right sides by a pair of shoulder straps 170. Unless otherwise specified, the left and right refer to the left and right from the perspective of the wearer wearing the brassiere 10.

In the center of the front body part 100, an opening/closing part 140 is arranged across the top and bottom. The opening/closing part 140 allows the wearer to put on and take off the brassiere 10 by separating or joining the left and right halves of the front body part 100. The opening/closing part 140 includes, for example, a zipper or a hook-and-loop fastener. Furthermore, the opening/closing part 140 may have a flap provided on the side farther from the wearer than the zipper, etc., so that the zipper, etc., is hidden when viewed from the direction of FIG. 1.

The front body portion 100 is further provided with a pair of left and right bust sections 110 that roughly correspond to the position of the wearer's bust, a front chest upper portion 120 arranged above each of the bust sections 110, and a lace portion 130 arranged above each of the front chest upper portions 120. Below, the left configuration of the pair of left and right configurations will be explained, and unless otherwise specified, the right configuration will be omitted as it is symmetrical to the left configuration.

The bust area 110 is the area that covers the wearer's bust. On the other hand, the upper front chest area 120 is the area that covers the area above the wearer's bust to just below the collarbone, known as the chest, décolleté, etc.

The front body portion 100 and the rear body portion 160, excluding the opening and closing portion 140, are preferably integrally formed from knitted fabric made from natural fibers such as organic cotton or silk. However, this is not limited to organic, and artificial fibers may be used instead of natural fibers. Furthermore, they may be formed from woven fabric instead of knitted fabric, or each portion may be formed separately and then sewn or woven together to form an integral unit.

Figure 3 shows the left side of the front body 100 as seen from the back, i.e., the side closest to the wearer. Figure 4 shows the state of Figure 3 with flaps 114 and 124 removed for the sake of explanation.

As shown in FIG. 4, the bust section 110 is bag-shaped and has an opening 112 at the upper side of the armpit, forming a storage section. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, it has a flap 114 that covers the opening 112. The upper side of the flap 114 is attached to the front body section 100, and the lower side is open.

Figure 6 shows the pad 180 as seen from the wearer's side when worn. The pad 180 is inserted into and removed from the storage section through the opening 112 in the bust section 110. The pad 180 is, for example, roughly bowl-shaped. When worn, the pad 180 is positioned in front of the bust, making the bust appear fuller and protecting the bust. It is preferable that the bottom edge of the pad 180 is shaped to follow the bottom edge of the bust section 110. This ensures that the position of the pad 180 stored in the bust section 110 is stable when worn.

As shown in FIG. 4, the upper front chest part 120 is bag-shaped and has an opening 122 at the top, which forms a storage area. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, it has a flap 124 that covers the opening 122. The upper edge of the flap 124 is attached to the front body part 100, and the lower edge is open.

Figure 5 shows the cushion 190 as seen from the wearer's side when worn. The cushion 190 is inserted into and removed from the storage section through the opening 122 in the upper front chest area 120. When worn, the cushion 190 is positioned in front of the décolleté. This allows the wearer, who has had the chest, including the bust and décolleté, removed for treatment of an illness, to have the décolleté area that was removed along with the bust to have a thicker look, making the line up to the bust look natural.

The cushion 190 is, for example, plate-shaped. The thickness of the cushion 190 may be determined according to the wearer's décolletage, and is a few millimeters to a few centimeters. It is preferable that the cushion 190 is thinner than the pad 180 so that the entire chest looks natural when worn. Furthermore, in a wearer who has only had one side of the chest removed, a cushion 190 with a thickness about half the thickness of the cushion 190 on the removed side may be inserted on the unremoved side to balance the appearance.

It is preferable that the bottom edge of the cushion 190 is shaped to follow the bottom edge of the front chest part 120. This stabilizes the position of the cushion 190 contained in the front chest part 120 when worn. It is also preferable that the bottom edge of the cushion 190 and the top edge of the bust part 110 have shapes that match each other. On the left side of this embodiment, the bottom edge of the cushion 190 is made up of a horizontal line extending from left to right and a line segment extending downward from the horizontal line toward the center, and the top edge of the bust part 110 is also made up of a horizontal line extending from left to right and a line segment extending downward from the horizontal line toward the center, and they are shaped to match each other. This stabilizes the position of the cushion 190 when worn.

The cushion 190 is preferably made of a material that is comfortable to wear and fits well around the chest, and is made of polyurethane foam, for example. Polyurethane foam has a shape-following property that reduces its hardness through heat transfer from the human body and can be deformed to follow the shape of the body surface when used, fitting well to the human body when at rest and providing excellent wearability and retention during exercise.

For example, the polyurethane foam is primarily composed of toluene diisocyanate and polyether polyol, and has a glass transition temperature, which is the temperature corresponding to the peak value of the loss tangent, of 0°C or higher and 40°C or lower. At temperatures of 0°C or higher and 40°C or lower, the loss tangent in the frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 100 Hz is 0.4 or higher, and the average value of the loss tangent in the frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 1 Hz (the frequency of the surface of the human body at rest) is preferably less than or equal to the average value of the loss tangent in the frequency range of 10 Hz to 100 Hz (the frequency of the surface of the human body during exercise). Furthermore, in the polyurethane foam, it is more preferable that the toluene diisocyanate is a mixture of 2,4-toluene diisocyanate and 2,6-toluene diisocyanate in a ratio of 65:35 to 80:20, and the polyether polyol is a polyoxypropylene triol having a number average molecular weight of 700 to 3000, a polyoxypropylene diol having a number average molecular weight of 400 to 2000, or a mixture of polyoxypropylene triol and polyoxypropylene diol.

In the polyurethane foam, it is preferable that the ratio of change in the average value of the loss tangent in the frequency range of 10 Hz to 100 Hz to the average value of the loss tangent in the frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 1 Hz is 0% to 10%. In addition, in the polyurethane foam, it is preferable that the polyether polyol and the toluene diisocyanate are mixed in a ratio of 100:39.21 to 100:48.77 (mass ratio).

By using such polyurethane foam, body heat is transferred to the cushion 190, reducing the hardness of the cushion 190 and making it soft, improving the fit and comfort around the wearer's chest.

The polyurethane foam may also be used for the pad 180. Alternatively, other materials may be used for the pad 180.

(Example)
A sensory test was conducted by having a wearer wear the brassiere 10 according to the above embodiment. In Example 1, the cushion 190 was made of "SMP Foam" manufactured by SMP Technologies Co., Ltd. This "SMP Foam" is an example of the polyurethane foam of the above embodiment. In Comparative Example 1, the cushion 190 was made of "Urethane Foam Soft Type" manufactured by Ins Corporation Co., Ltd. This "Urethane Foam Soft Type" is a polyurethane foam, but does not satisfy the properties of the polyurethane foam of the above embodiment. In Comparative Example 2, the cushion 190 was made of nylon cloth.

The wearers were 10 patients in their 40s to 60s who had undergone breast resection for breast cancer, with a variety of bust sizes. They put on the brassieres 10 by inserting and removing the cushion 190 in the order of Example 1, Comparative Example 1, and Comparative Example 2 into the upper front chest 120 on the side where the bra had been resected. They were asked to rate the fit of each bra on a three-point scale, with the categories "fit," "comfort," and "silhouette." The results are shown in Table 1.

As shown in Table 1, in terms of "fit,""comfort," and "silhouette," Example 1 was significantly better than Comparative Examples 1 and 2. Furthermore, the following comments were also made.
Compared to Comparative Examples 1 and 2, Example 1 provides a sense of security by filling in the fit and unevenness.
In Comparative Example 1, the foam is harder than in Example 1 and does not fit well with the skin.
-The three women who answered "yes" to the question "does it fit" in Comparative Example 1 all had smaller bust sizes than the other seven women, and did not notice much unevenness.
Regarding Comparative Example 2, there were opinions that it was stiff and unstable, that it felt too strong against the skin, and that the silhouette was poor.

According to the first embodiment, the brassiere 10, which makes the décolleté and bust look fuller and more natural, can improve the fit and comfort of the wearer's chest. In particular, it can improve the comfort of use for wearers who have had their breasts removed for medical reasons.

The present invention has been described above using an embodiment, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. It is clear to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiment. It is clear from the claims that forms with such modifications or improvements can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

The order of execution of each process, such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages, in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not specifically stated as "before" or "prior to," and it should be noted that the processes may be performed in any order, unless the output of a previous process is used in a later process. Even if the operational flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is explained using "first," "next," etc. for convenience, it does not mean that it is necessary to perform the processes in this order.

10 Bra, 100 Main body front, 110 Bust section, 112 Opening, 114 Flap, 120 Front chest upper section, 122 Opening, 124 Flap, 130 Lace section, 140 Opening section, 160 Main body rear section, 170 Shoulder section, 180 Pad, 190 Cushion

Claims (7)

A bra,
A pair of left and right bust parts that cover the bust,
A pair of left and right bag-shaped storage sections are provided above the pair of left and right bust sections and cover the chest area above the bust ;
a cushion accommodated in each of the accommodation portions,
The cushion is formed of polyurethane foam;
The polyurethane foam is
The main components are toluene diisocyanate and polyether polyol.
The glass transition temperature, which is the temperature corresponding to the peak value of the loss tangent, is 0° C. or more and 40° C. or less;
At a temperature of 0° C. or more and 40° C. or less, the loss tangent in a frequency range of 0.1 Hz or more and 100 Hz or less is 0.4 or more,
The average value of the loss tangent in a frequency range of 0.1 Hz to 1 Hz is equal to or less than the average value of the loss tangent in a frequency range of 10 Hz to 100 Hz.
bra. The brassiere according to claim 1, wherein the cushion is removable from the storage section. The brassiere according to claim 1, wherein the cushion is plate-shaped. The brassiere according to claim 1, wherein the bottom edge of the cushion and the corresponding top edge of the pair of left and right bust sections have shapes that match each other. The brassiere according to claim 1, wherein each of the pair of left and right bust sections is bag-shaped and contains a pad. The brassiere according to claim 5, wherein the cushion is thinner than the pad. The brassiere according to claim 5, wherein the pad is formed from the polyurethane foam.

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