CA2990365A1 - Compression shorts - Google Patents

Abstract

A lower-body garment includes a front portion to contact a front lower-body region of a subject, and a rear portion to contact a rear lower-body region of the subject. A plurality of fabric strips oriented in spiral diagonal configurations on the front and rear of the garment to reduce movement in certain areas of the subject's body. The strips are attached to each other on the front and rear portions by multiple oblique, vertical, and concave seams.

Description

Canada Patent Application Appl. No.: 2,990,365 Puni App1. Date: Dec. 27, 2017 COMPRESSION SHORTS
Inventor: Vishal Puni, Montreal (CA) Appl. No: 2,990,365 Filed: Dec. 27, 2017 Compression shorts Abstract A lower-body garment includes a front portion to contact a front lower-body region of a subject, and a rear portion to contact a rear lower-body region of the subject. A plurality of elastomeric strips oriented in spiral diagonal configurations on the front and rear of the garment to reduce movement in certain areas of the subject's body. The strips are attached to each other on the front and rear portions by multiple oblique, vertical, and concave seams.
Description COMPRESSION SHORTS
BACKGROUND
[0001] The present invention relates to garments, and more particularly to garments known generally in the art as compression shorts.

[0002] Compression shorts are garments worn by individuals for a variety of purposes, but are primarily worn by active individuals and athletes participating in sports activities.
Essentially, compression shorts serve as a type of lower body girdle, providing compressive support to several areas of the wearer's body, including the hips, pelvis, thighs, groin, abdomen and back areas. Compression shorts are often used by individuals during sports activities to reduce muscle fatigue, improve thermoregulation by wicking perspiration away from the body, and maintaining muscle warmth to reduce the potential for muscle strains.
These garments may be worn by individuals as a preventative measure, or to provide additional support for areas weakened by injury.

[0003] Compression shorts are often manufactured using stretchable or elastomeric fabrics such as nylon, polyester, LycraTM and SpandexTM. Typically, compression Patent Application Dec. 27, 2017 Page 2 of 13 2,990,365 shorts are constructed such that this elastomeric fabric is placed in tension when the shorts are pulled onto the wearer's body, thereby providing some degree of compressive support for the wearer. The particular part of the body receiving this compressive support depends upon the nature of the construction of the garment.

[0004] Simple shorts, although capable of providing some general level of compression to portions of a user's body, generally do not target such compression to a particular area of the wearer's body and not to others; rather, they simply "squeeze"
whatever portion of the body the fabric overlies.

[0005] Further, such shorts do not necessarily provide resistance to undesired ranges of movement. They do not provide any specific resistance to certain unidirectional and multidirectional motions. In many instances, limiting certain muscle and joint actions is very important when one is trying to heal from an injury such as a hip sprain, osteitis pubis, or groin strain. Other prior art shorts have attempted to address disorders of the hips by adding various straining straps or fabric panels. Examples of shorts using straining straps or fabric panels are U.S. Patent Nos. 6,430,752 and 20,100,281,593 However, these shorts do not effectively limit certain muscle and joint actions for the legs, hips, and pelvis.

[0006] To prevent or treat hip injuries, special wrapping or taping techniques to limit joint and muscle motions have been used for years in sports medicine. These wrapping or taping techniques must be performed by persons possessing special skills and knowledge, and for hygienic reasons may only be used for short durations.

[0007] Until now there has not been a single garment that reproduces the leg, hip, and pelvis anatomy to provide specific unidirectional and multidirectional support to both muscle and joint action. There remains a pressing need for compression shorts which are constructed to provide not only general compressive forces to the areas of the body covered by the shorts, but also to provide specific extra forces to certain areas of the body to limit certain undesired joint movements and muscle activities in the hips, legs, and pelvis.
Specifically, a better lower body garment is needed for the prevention and treatment of hip instabilities, osteitis pubis, muscle weakness and strains, pelvis and abdominal muscle injuries, as well as for improving postural control.
SUMMARY

[0008] It is an object of the present invention to design compression shorts, or other stabilization garments, that may create compression to areas of the body to provide stability and tension to protect injured or recovering muscles and joints. It also may be used to prevent hip, groin, or pelvis injuries, as well as improving postural control.

Patent Application Dec. 27, 2017 Page 3 of 13 2,990,365

[0009] The present application may provide more specific compressive protection to a wearer's lower body than that provided by prior art shorts. The compression shorts may be constructed of multiple strips of elastomeric material sewn together to form the shorts. These elastomeric strips may be oriented primarily in spiral, diagonal configurations, which have been determined to be particularly helpful in stabilizing, to some extent, a wearer's hip, leg, and pelvis, in addition to supporting the wearer's groin, back, and abdominal areas.

[0010] More particularly, the compression shorts have a front portion, a rear portion, and sleeve portions, with all these portions attached to one another at multiple front, rear, and oblique seams. Like most traditional shorts, the compression shorts have a waistband encircling the upper edges of the front and rear portions, as well as cuffs formed at the lower edge of the sleeve portions. Unlike traditional shorts, the compression shorts may also contain two sleeve portions on each side, attached in between by a gusset, as well as a reinforced waistband. Seams attaching the sleeve portions to the front and rear portions of the shorts may run in a spiral, diagonal direction from the waistband down to the inside portion of the shorts. The seams may be made of reinforced thread. This is in contrast to other shorts in which the sleeve portions of the front and rear portions of the shorts are attached by vertical seams extending from the waistband down the outside of the sleeves, as well as vertical seams on the inside of each sleeve which meet in the midline of the shorts in the crotch area.

[0011] Two groups of elastomeric strips of fabric extend from the inside seam of the lower portion of the sleeves of the shorts and wrap around the rear of the sleeves as they spiral diagonally upwards across the front portion of the shorts, while two groups of elastomeric strips of fabric extend laterally in a diagonal upwards direction across the upper portion of the rear of the shorts, and one group of elastomeric fabric forms a gusset in the crotch area of the shorts extending between the front and rear portions of the shorts thereby attaching the sleeves.

[0012] According to one embodiment, the waistband and cuffs may include a tacky surface which serves as an anti-skid device to keep the compression shorts positioned correctly on the wearer's body.

[0013] According to one embodiment, the seams of the compression shorts may serve as anchor points for the elastomeric strips. The use of a reinforced waistband and/or a tacky surface on the waistband and cuffs may reinforce the positioning of the anchor points, and thus the positioning of the strips, on the wearer's body.

[0014] In a further embodiment, the elastomeric strips of fabric may extend diagonally from the inside seam of the right and left sleeves of the garment at an upwards angle of approximately 15 degrees to approximately 75 degrees relative to the vertical centerline on the front and rear portions between the waistband and gusset. The angle of the strips may be selected to compress different muscle groups and portions of the wearer's lower body. To further exact a correct amount of compression, the strips may have a Patent Application Dec. 27, 2017 Page 4 of 13 2,990,365 width of between approximately 2 inches and 12 inches. The angle of the strips and/or the width of the strips may further change depending on the size of the compression shorts (e.g. small, medium, large, extra large, etc.).

[0015] The widths and sizes of the elastomeric strips may be changed arbitrarily as required. To further compress different muscle groups and/or provide further stability, additional elastomeric strips of fabric may be added to the garment.

[0016] The shape of the waistband portion is not limited to that shown in the drawings, but may be changed arbitrarily as required, for instance to a high-rise waistband type, a low-rise waistband type, a broad waistband type, or a narrow waistband type.

[0017] The unique orientation and configuration of the elastomeric fabric strips used in the construction of the compression shorts may provide specific compressive support to reduce movement and improve stability to a wearer's hip, leg, and pelvis areas, in addition may support the wearer's groin, back, and abdominal areas.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] In drawings which illustrate specific embodiments of the invention, but which should not be construed as restricting the spirit or scope of the invention in any way:

[0019] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of compression shorts according to the invention.

[0020] FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1.

[0021] FIG. 3 is a rear view of FIG. 1.

[0022] FIG. 4 is a right side view of FIG. 1.

[0023] FIG. 5 is a left side view of FIG. 1.

[0024] FIG. 6 is a top view of FIG. 1; and,

[0025] FIG. 7 is a bottom view of FIG. 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Throughout the following description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention. However, the invention may be practiced without these particulars. In other instances, well known elements have not been shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention.
Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, rather than restrictive, sense.
Further, throughout the drawings, the words "right" and "left" are used in the sense of the wearer of the garment. Thus, the right side of the garment as worn is on the left side as viewed in the illustrated drawing. The "left" side of the garment as worn is on the right side as viewed in the illustrated drawing.

Patent Application Dec. 27, 2017 Page 5 of 13 2,990,365

[0027] Referring first to FIG. 1, one embodiment of the compression shorts configured in accordance with the principles of the present invention is denoted generally herein by the numeral "22". Shorts 22 is constructed using five elastomeric fabric strips, of which the right and left oblique portions 1, 2 respectively form the majority of the front portion while the right and left oblique portions 4, 5 respectively form the majority of the rear portion, and a gusset portion 3 extending between the front and rear portions.
Right front and rear portions 1, 4 are attached to one another at right oblique seam 6.
Left front and rear portions 2, 5 are attached to one another at left oblique seam 7. Right and left oblique seams 6, 7 are shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3.
Right and left front oblique portions 1, 2 are attached at vertical seam 10.
Right and left front oblique portions 1, 2 are attached to the front of gusset portion 3 at concave seam 8.

[0028] As shown in FIG. 3, the right and left rear oblique portions 4, 5 are attached at vertical seam 11.
Right and left rear oblique portions 4, 5 are attached to the rear of gusset portion 3 at concave seam 9.

[0029] The shorts 22 may be made of a wicking or thermal material and may include a zipper or other fastening device to help the wearer put the shorts on.
According to one embodiment, the shorts material may be a thinner wicking material to allow for airflow around the heavier elastomeric compression strips.

[0030] The shorts 22 may have a waistband 14 which encircles the upper edges of front portions 1, 2, and rear portions 4, 5, and right cuff 12 and left cuff 13 formed by the lower edges of right and left oblique portions 1, 2 respectively, although neither waistband 14, nor cuffs 12, 13 are strictly necessary to the practice of the invention.

[0031] According to one embodiment, the inventor has recognized that while shorts 22 could be made with a plurality of fabric strips extending diagonally at any angle relative to center vertical seams 10, 11, a certain range of "steepness" of such strips provides better results. The inventor has determined that strips 1, 2 may extend diagonally in an upwards spiral manner across the front portions of the shorts at an angle between about 15-75 degrees relative to the vertical centerline between waistband 14 and gusset 3, and strips 4, 5 may extend diagonally across the rear portions of the shorts at an angle between about 15-75 degrees relative to the vertical centerline between waistband 14 and gusset 3.

[0032] In a further embodiment, the angle of the elastomeric strips may be selected to compress different muscle groups and portions of the wearer's lower body. To further exact a correct amount of compression, the strips may have a width of between approximately 2 inches and 12 inches. The angle of the strips and/or the width of the strips may further change depending on the size of the compression shorts.

[0033] Although it will be appreciated to those skilled in the art that any number of strips Patent Application Dec. 27, 2017 Page 6 of 13 2,990,365 of fabric could be employed in place of the groups of elastomeric fabric shown in the figures, one embodiment employs two strips for each of the five groups of fabric 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, for ease of construction and to provide enhanced limitation of certain movements.

[0034] As shown throughout the figures, shorts 22 may have a right sleeve formed by the lower edge of the right oblique portion 1 terminating with cuff 12 and a left sleeve formed by the lower edge of the left oblique portion 2 terminating with cuff 13. Each of the sleeves formed by portions 1, 2 respectively may generally be configured to extend at least partially down the leg of the wearer.

[0035] In a preferred embodiment, the management of the compression forces are determined by the patterns of the elastomeric strips and the location of the seams. The seams connecting together the various elastomeric strips may be of the well-known flatlock type.

[0036] Compression shorts are described which provide specific compression to reduce movement and improve stability in certain areas of a wearer's lower body.
Compression may be applied to the wearer's lower body via one or more elastomeric strips of fabric. The strips may be oriented in diagonal, oblique, and/or overlapping configurations across the shorts.
The strips may comprise either a single strip running uniquely, or a plurality of strips in a sequential pattern.

[0037] According to the embodiments described above, the lower-body compression garment may create compression and provide stability and tension to protect injured or recovering muscles and joints. The garment may also be used to prevent hip or pelvis injuries, as well as improving postural control, for daily use, or during sports or training activities such as football, hockey, baseball, tennis, golf, rugby, lacrosse, weight lifting, crossfit, cricket, basketball, track and field, gymnastics, martial arts, volleyball, soccer, field hockey, softball.

[0038] As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the aforementioned claims.
Claims (5) WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
1. A lower-body compression garment, comprising:
a plurality of elastomeric fabric strips having edges connected together by stretchable seams to form the garment which has a front, a rear, and leg sleeves each representing

Claims (5)

Claims (5) WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A lower-body compression garment, comprising:
a plurality of elastomeric fabric strips having edges connected together by stretchable seams to form the garment which has a front, a rear, and leg sleeves each representing a respective hip region that transitions between the front and rear of the garment, the garment having oblique seams, wherein the plurality of elastomeric strips include:
a) a first strip comprising a single elastomeric fabric section that begins at the inside seam of the lower portion of one of the sleeves and wraps around the rear of the said sleeve, extending diagonally upwards across the front portion of the garment terminating at the front vertical midline seam and waistband;
b) a second strip comprising a single elastomeric fabric section that begins at the inside seam of the lower portion of the other sleeve and wraps around the rear of the said sleeve, extending diagonally upwards across the front portion of the garment terminating at the front vertical midline seam and waistband, wherein the first strip and second strip attach to each other on the front of the garment at the vertical midline seam;
c) a third strip comprising a single elastomeric fabric section that begins on the rear portion of the garment at the gusset seam and oblique seam of one of the sleeves, extending laterally in a diagonal upwards direction across the upper portion of the rear of the garment, terminating at the front upper portion of the said oblique seam and waistband;
d) a fourth strip comprising a single elastomeric fabric section that begins on the rear portion of the garment at the gusset seam and oblique seam of the other sleeve, extending laterally in a diagonal upwards direction across the upper portion of the rear of the garment, terminating at the front upper portion of the said oblique seam and waistband, wherein the third strip and fourth strip attach to each other on the rear of the garment at the vertical midline seam;
e) a fifth strip comprising a single elastomeric fabric section forming a gusset in the crotch area of the garment attaching the inside portions of the leg sleeves, extending between the front and rear portions of the garment.

2. The lower-body compression garment of claim 1, further comprising:
a) a waistband encircling the upper edges of the front and rear portions of the garment;
b) a right leg sleeve having a right inside seam wherein the upper portion of the said sleeve attaches at the gusset and the lower edge of the said sleeve forms the right cuff;
c) a left leg sleeve having a left inside seam wherein the upper portion of the said sleeve attaches at the gusset and the lower edge of the said sleeve forms the left cuff, wherein the right and left leg sleeves extend at least partially down the leg of the wearer.

3. The lower-body compression garment of claim 1, wherein each of the first, second, third, and fourth pluralities of elastomeric strips of fabric extend diagonally at an angle of approximately 15 degrees to approximately 75 degrees relative to the vertical centerline on the front and rear of the garment.

4. The lower-body compression garment of claim 1, wherein each of the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth pluralities of elastomeric strips of fabric have a width of between approximately 2 inches and approximately 12 inches.

5. The lower-body compression garment as claimed in claims 2, 3, and 4, further comprising an inner and/or outer liner.