AU2011101016A4 - A partial undergarment - Google Patents

Abstract

In one aspect, the present invention provides a partial undergarment for covering cleavage created by wearing of a bra the partial undergarment comprising: (a) a panel configured to extend from a first strap of the bra to a second strap of the bra and between cups of the bra to cover the cleavage (b) wherein the panel is attachable: to the first strap of the bra and the second strap of the bra by means of fasteners associated with the panel and to between the cups of the bra by doubled-sided adhesive means. w Fig. Fig. 2

Description

Australia Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION INNOVATION PATENT A PARTIAL UNDERGARMENT The invention is described in the following statement: 1 A PARTIAL UNDERGARMENT The present invention relates to an article of clothing and in particular to an article of 5 clothing that may be worn in conjunction with a brassiere or the like. BACKGROUND A brassiere, commonly referred to as a bra, is an article of clothing that covers, supports and elevates the breasts. Bras are a commonly used article of women's apparel. Bras are designed for a variety 10 of purposes, for example, to support the breasts and/or enhance their shape, to reduce or enlarge perceived breast size, to restrain breast movement during an activity such as exercise, to enhance cleavage or to facilitate nursing. Because of their construction, most bras emphasize the area where the breasts meet, commonly referred to as the cleavage or cleavage area. Although this may be a 15 desired aesthetic effect in certain contexts, there are instances in which the wearer may wish to de-emphasize the cleavage area, for example, in a conservative workplace or to conceal scarring resulting from surgery. Alternatively, the wearer may simply wish to have a convenient wardrobe accessory for changing the appearance of the chest area that is more comfortable, cooler and convenient than 20 wearing another undergarment such as a camisole, t-shirt or tank top. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect, the present invention provides a partial undergarment for covering cleavage created by wearing of a bra, the partial undergarment comprising: (a) a panel configured to extend from a first strap of the bra to a second strap of the 25 bra, and between cups of the bra to cover the cleavage; (b) wherein the panel is attachable: to the first strap of the bra and the second strap of the bra by means of fasteners associated with the panel; and to between the cups of the bra by doubled-sided adhesive means. 30 In a second aspect, the present invention provides a partial undergarment of the first 2 aspect when attached to a bra. In a third aspect, the present invention provides a combination of a panel configured to extend from a first strap of the bra to a second strap of a bra, and between cups of 5 the bra to cover the cleavage, said panel being associated with fasteners that are attachable to the first strap of the bra and the second strap of the bra, and at least one doubled-sided adhesive means attachable to a bottom portion of the bra. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 10 Where reference herein is made to inward and outward or other similar terms, they are understood to be in relation to the body of the wearer of the partial undergarment of the present invention. For example, the "inward" or "inner" side or region or thing is a relative term to denote that an item or a component of the partial undergarment is 15 more proximate or closer to the body of the wearer of the partial undergarment than other items or components of the partial undergarment that are at a greater distance from the body of the wearer. "Outward" and "outer" are similarly interpreted. The panel may have a shape such that it covers the cleavage area exposed when a bra 20 and outer garment are worn. The panel may have a generally triangular shape. The panel may exhibit a frustotriangular shape. The term "frustotriangular" means a truncated triangle, e.g., the part that is left when a triangle is cut by a line parallel to the base of the triangle and the apex-portion is removed. The width of the remaining portion may be from about 30mm to about 150mm. The vertices at the base of the 25 triangle may be truncated by a line approximately perpendicular to the base of the triangle to leave edges that are approximately parallel to the respective bra straps to which they are attached. Those skilled in the art will readily recognize that other shapes may be used as well. 30 The panel may be formed from a variety of fabrics, styles and/or colours. The panel may be formed from one material or it may comprise two or more materials sewn or otherwise attached together. The material may be a natural or synthetic material or a combination thereof. The material may be a one-way stretch fabric or a two-way stretch fabric, for example, a fabric containing a stretch fibre such as an elastane fibre 3 (eg Lycra@, Spandex, Elaspan, Creora, ROICA, Dorlastan , Linel, ESPA) blended with natural and/or synthetic fibre(s), for example, cotton, silk, nylon or polyester. The material may be or comprise an openwork fabric such as lace. The edges of the fabric panel may be overlocked and/or hemmed or have a reinforcing fabric. The 5 uppermost side of the panel may be embellished with a particular shape or pattern in the fabric of the panel itself or by incorporating material having the desired shape and/or pattern at or near the uppermost side. The fasteners for attaching the panel to the bra straps may be selected from any 10 suitable fasteners, for example, ribbons, tapes, snaps, buttons, pins, elastic straps, double-sided adhesive means or hook-and-loop attachments (eg that sold under the trademark Velcro) or a combination of two or more thereof Preferably, the fasteners are easily attached to and removable from the bra straps. Preferably, the fastening means are not visible when the partial undergarment of the invention is in place and 15 covered by an outer garment. The fasteners may be associated with the panel by any suitable means. The fastening means may be provided on the panel itself and/or may be provided by means connected to the panel, for example, material straps, ribbons or strips. The fastening 20 means may be looped around the bra straps with the loop closed by snaps, buttons, pins, double-sided adhesive means or hook-and-loop attachments. Preferably, where the fastening means are snaps, buttons, pins, double-sided adhesive means or hook and-loop attachments, the fastening means are located on the inner side of the panel so as not to be visible when the partial undergarment is in place. 25 The double-sided adhesive means may be of any suitable shape and size. The adhesive may be a pressure sensitive adhesive. The double-sided adhesive means may be a single adhesive unit or it may comprise two or more discrete adhesive units attachable to the bra/panel at a number of locations. The double-sided adhesive 30 means may have any suitable shape, for example, rectangular (eg tape), circular, oval, trapezoid or curved. Preferably the adhesive of the double-sided adhesive means is gentle on skin, hypoallergenic and leaves no residue on fabrics. An example of suitable double-sided adhesive tape is one that is precut into strips of 4 suitable size, each precut strip having opposite sides supporting an adhesive material and having a removable backing on each adhesive side. In use each backing being removed prior to application of a strip. The double-sided adhesive means may be of any colour. The adhesive may be formed of a transparent, semi-transparent or opaque 5 material. In use, the partial undergarment is positioned between the bra straps and the panel thereof is attached to the bra straps by means of the fasteners. The backing of one side of the double-sided adhesive means, for example, double-sided tape, is removed 10 and the exposed adhesive side ("first side") is attached to the inward side of the panel at a position adjacent to a bra surface, for example, near the bottom of the panel. Alternatively, the first side may be attached to an outward surface of the bra. The remaining backing of the adhesive tape is then removed to expose the second adhesive side ("second side") and the second side is pressed onto an outward surface 15 of the bra (where the first side is adhered to the panel) or to a surface of the panel (where the first side is adhered to a bra surface). It will be clear to the skilled reader than the sequence of the steps used to attach the partial undergarment to the bra straps and connecting the panel to the bra may be varied from the sequence specifically described. 20 In order that the present invention may be more readily understood I provide the following non-limiting embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 25 Fig, I is a view of the outward side of a partial undergarment in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a view the inward side of the partial undergarment illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view the inward side of a further embodiment of a partial 30 undergarment in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 4 is a view of the outward side of a further embodiment of a partial undergarment in accordance with the present invention.

EMBODIMENTS Fig. I is a view of the outward side of one embodiment of the partial undergarment 10 of the present invention comprising panel 2 having sides 14, 4, 4', 16,16' and 8. The 5 panel is formed from a two-way stretch nylon or cotton Lycra@ fabric. The width W of side 14 is approximately 260-270mm . Sides 4 and 4' are each approximately 50mm in length. Angled sides 16 and 16' are each are approximately 190-200 mm in length. Bottom-most side 40 mm wide. 10 Side 18 is hemmed and finished with an overlock stitch, whilst the remaining edges are finished with a coverlock hem. Attached at either side of the panel are ribbons 12 each extending approximately 70mm from the side of the panel. Snap elements 7 are affixed to the ribbons 7. 15 Fig. 2 is a view of the inward side of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1. Snap elements 7a are affixed to panel 2 as shown. These cooperate with respective snap elements 7 to permit each tape 12 to form a closed loop around respective bra straps to assist in maintaining the panel in place. 20 Fig. 3 is a view of the inward side of a further embodiment of a partial undergarment in accordance with the present invention. In this embodiment, panel 2 comprises an upper sub-panel 22 of one-way stretch lace fabric attached to lower sub-panel 24 formed from an non-open work two-way stretch fabric. The dimensions of subpanel 25 24 are A = approximately 60mm, 8 = approximately 40mm, C = approximately 120mm In use, the partial undergarment 10 is positioned between the bra straps and the panel 2 thereof is held in place by looping each ribbon 12 around the adjacent bras strap and 30 securing the looped ribbons by use of the snaps 7, 7a. The backing is removed from one side of a strip of double-sided Hollywood Fashion Tape (-72 mm x 13 mm) and the exposed adhesive side is affixed to panel 2 at a location in the lower region of the inward side of the panel (for example, subpanel 6 24). The backing of the adhesive tape is then removed from tape on the inward side of the panel and pressed onto the outward side of the bra thus, with the fasteners of the panel looped around the bra straps , hold the partial undergarment in place. 5 Fig. 4 illustrates yet a further embodiment of the invention where the panel is decorated with one-way stretch lace 40 sewn onto the upper part of the panel. The direction of stretch is parallel to the upper side of the panel. The upper side 14 is thus embellished with extending lace portions 42. 10 While the invention has been described with reference to an exemplary embodiment, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes, omissions and/or additions may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Moreover it will be understood by the skilled reader that dimensions other than those specifically 15 described may be adopted, for example, to provide differing fitting sizes. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the invention without departing from the scope thereof Moreover, unless specifically stated any use of the terms first, second, etc. does not 20 denote any order or importance, but rather the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another. Throughout this specification, where the context permits, the term "comprise" and variants thereof such as "comprises" or "comprising" are to be interpreted as including 25 the stated integer or integers without necessarily excluding any other integers. 7

Claims (5)

1. A partial undergarment for covering cleavage created by wearing of a bra, the partial undergarment comprising: S (a) a panel configured to extend from a first strap of the bra to a second strap of the bra, and between cups of the bra to cover the cleavage; (b) wherein the panel is attachable: to the first strap of the bra and the second strap of the bra by means of fasteners associated with the panel; and 10 to between the cups of the bra by doubled-sided adhesive means.

2. The partial undergarment of claim 1 when attached to a bra.

3. A combination of a panel configured to extend from a first strap of the bra to a 15 second strap of a bra, and between cups of the bra to cover the cleavage, said panel being associated with fasteners that are attachable to the first strap of the bra and the second strap of the bra, and at least one doubled-sided adhesive means attachable to a bottom portion of the bra. 20

4. A partial undergarment of claim 1 or claim 2, or the combination of claim 3 wherein the double-sided adhesive means is double-sided tape.

5. A partial undergarment substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 25 30 8