US20070037483A1

US20070037483A1 - Maternity belt

Info

Publication number: US20070037483A1
Application number: US11/271,892
Authority: US
Inventors: Ho-Ting Huang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-08-15
Filing date: 2005-11-14
Publication date: 2007-02-15
Also published as: TWM289027U

Abstract

A maternity belt comprises a ring band and a shoulder band. The ring band is used to support the lower abdomen of a dresser, and surrounds the waist of the dresser. The shoulder band is across the shoulder of the dresser, and its two ends are respectively located at the front and the back of the dresser to connect with the ring band. Thus, the shoulder of the dresser can provide an upward force for the ring band to help to support the lower abdomen.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a maternity belt that has a shoulder band.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
A pregnant woman feel the abdominal distension from the fourth months of pregnancy. With a growing fetus, the lower abdomen of the pregnant woman becomes bigger and heavier to bend the lumbar vertebra forward. It causes some discomforts such as lumbago or backache etc. In order to erect the lumbar vertebra and relax the discomforts, the pregnant woman bends backward, and supports the waist with her hand.
About the five months pregnancy, the doctor usually recommends the pregnant woman to start to wear a maternity belt, so as to lessen lumbago and prevent the abnormal fetal position or hysteroptosis. Because the maternity belt can ease the burden of the pregnant woman to avoid the spine bending unnaturally, and lessen the discomforts during pregnancy.
As shown in FIG. 1A, conventional maternity belt 10 is constituted of a support portion 11, a strap 12 and a strap 13. The support portion 11 is wider than the strap 12 or 13. Two ends of the support portion 11 extents to form the narrower strap 12 and 13. A cotton-like stick piece 121 is sewn at outer side of the strap 12. On the other hand, a male stick piece 131 is sewn at inner side of the strap 13. Refer to FIG. 1B, when the pregnant woman wears the conventional maternity belt 10, the support portion 11 is covered the lower abdomen. And the strap 12 and 13 are around the waist of the pregnant woman. The male stick piece 131 in the strap 13 is adhered to the female stick piece 121 in the strap 12.
The support portion and the strap are made from non-elastic fabric. For adhering the strap 12 to the strap 13, enough large force is provided to stretch the maternity belt like a “waist slim belt”. Accordingly, the abdomen of the pregnant woman is pressed to cause the discomfort and to constrict the fetus. When the pregnant woman sits or squats down, it is easy to turn the maternity belt inside out.
According to the prior art, the maternity belt can only be able to support the abdomen, but unable to support the waist. A part of the force for supporting the abdomen is still supplied by the lumbar vertebra, therefore the maternity belt is unable to reduce the burden on the waist of the pregnant woman. So the conventional maternity belt is necessary to improve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the object of the invention is to provide a novelty maternity belt which provides a upward force to enhance the function of the abdomen supporting through a shoulder band design that can share the burden of the lumbar vertebra, and reduce the constriction in the abdomen.
A maternity belt of the invention comprises a ring band and a shoulder band. The ring band is used to support the lower abdomen of a dresser, and surrounds the waist of the dresser. The shoulder band is located across the shoulder of the dresser, and has two ends respectively located at the front and the back of the dresser to connect with the ring band. Thus, the shoulder of the dresser can provide an upward force for the ring band to support the lower abdomen.
Preferably, the ring band includes a wider segment supporting the lower abdomen of a dresser, and a narrower segment surrounding the waist of the dresser. One end of the shoulder band is connected to the wider segment, and the other end is connected to the narrower segment.
Besides, the central region of the narrower segment further includes a soft pad that is pressed against the back of the dresser's waist. The supporting piece is connected to the upper side of the central region of the narrower segment to support the dresser's back. The supporting piece is functional to support the vertebra for preventing a possible hurt. The soft pad can protect the vertebra and make the pregnant woman comfortable when she sits or lies down. The wider segment and the narrower segment are independent, but can be assembled to form the ring band. One ends of the wider and narrower segment are adhered together, and the other ends are buckled together, so that the ring band can be adjusted to a suitable location or a suitable length.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be specified with reference to its preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, in which
FIG. 1A is a structure of a maternity belt according to the prior art;
FIG. 1B is a using situation of the maternity belt according to the prior art;
FIG. 2 is a basic structure of a maternity belt according to the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a first embodiment of the maternity belt according to the invention;
FIG. 4A is an discomposed diagram showing a second embodiment of the maternity belt according to the invention;
FIG. 4B is an assembly diagram showing a second embodiment of the maternity belt according to the invention;
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a third embodiment of the maternity belt according to the invention;
FIG. 6A is a front view of a pregnant woman wearing the maternity belt of the invention; and
FIG. 6B is a side view of a pregnant woman wearing the maternity belt of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Refer to FIG. 2 for the basic structure of a maternity belt according to the present invention. The maternity belt 20 is used to support the distended abdomen of a fat guy or a pregnant woman to ease the burden of the waist. The basic elements of the maternity belt 20 include a ring band 21 and at least one shoulder band 22. The ring band 21 is a soft band including a wider segment 211 and a narrower segment 212. The dash lines of FIG. 2 show the boundary of the wider segment 211, of the narrower segment 212 and of the shoulder band 22. The wider segment 211 is used to support the lower abdomen of a dresser. The narrower segment 212 is connected to the wider segment 211 to form a ring to surround the dresser's waist. The shoulder band 22 has two ends, one is connected to the narrower segment 212, the other one is connected to the wider segment 211 to make the shoulder band 22 be across the shoulder of the dress. The shoulder band 22 is supported by the shoulder of the dress to provide a upward force for the wider segment 211 to hold the lower abdomen.
Compared with the prior art, the supporting force in this invention is never completely provided by stretching the wider segment 211 on the waist. So long as the length of the ring band 21 is adjusted to fit the waistline, it is acceptable to reduce the discomfort of the abdomen. By the way, the ring band 21 may not be necessarily divided into the wider segment 211 and the narrower segment 212, but a enough width of the ring band 21 is required.
In FIG. 2, a piece of fabric is cut out the maternity belt 20, so the ring band 21 is integrally formed with the shoulder band 22. For example, the shoulder band 22 is formed by the central region of the narrower segment 212 extending upward, not by sewing the rear end of the shoulder band 22 with the narrower segment 212. However, the shoulder band 22 can be also adhered to, or buckled to the narrower segment 212. Likewise, the wider segment 211 may be integrally formed with, sewn with, adhered to, or buckled to the narrower segment 212. And aforesaid ways are also applied to connection between the shoulder band 22 and the wider segment 211. Both two shoulder bands are located across the shoulders to share the weight of the lower abdomen. In this embodiment, the shoulder band 22 forks to form a neckband 221 which can provide for the dresser to fit the head.
Refer to FIG. 3 for the first preferred embodiment according to the invention. The maternity belt 30 includes the shoulder band 31 a and 31 b, and each shoulder band 31 a or 31 b has a sticky piece 311 located at one end for adhering to the wider segment 211. Besides, each shoulder band 31 a or 31 b also has a setting ring 312 for the dresser to adjust its length. Another one sticky piece (not shown) is disposed on the surface of the wider segment 211 to connected with the sticky piece 311. A material in the surface of the wider segment 211 can be adhered to by the sticky piece 311. In a preferred embodiment, the shoulder band 31 a and 31 b are connected to a supporting piece 32, The supporting piece 32 is connected to the upper side of the narrower segment 212. Due to the distended abdomen, the dresser is used to bending his spine backward to support the abdomen. The supporting piece 32 is located the back to ease the burden of the spine.
Refer to FIG. 4A for the decomposed diagram showing a second embodiment of the maternity belt according to the invention. The maternity belt 40 includes a wider segment 41 and an independent element 42. The independent element 42 includes a supporting piece 422 that is connected to the upper side of the narrower segment 421. The shoulder band 423 a and 423 b are connected to the upper side of the supporting piece 422. The narrower segment 421, supporting piece 422 and the shoulder band 423 a and 423 b can be integrally formed or sewn together. The free end of the shoulder band 423 a or 423 b has the sticky piece 4231 for adhering to the wider segment 41. In this embodiment, the wider segment 41 and the narrower segment 421 are independent, but they can be co-assembled to form the ring band 43.
As shown FIG. 4A, the supporting piece 422 includes an elastic stripe 4221, such as hard plastic strap or hard rubber strap, underneath a fabric. An additional soft pad 4211 is located below the elastic stripes 4221 underneath the central region of the narrower segment 421. A pocket is disposed in the central region on the outer side of the wider segment 41 for putting the small carry-on items.
Preferably, one end of the wider segment 41 is adhered to one end of the narrower segment 421, and the other ends of the segment 41 and 421 are buckled together. For example, the sticky piece 412 such as a Velcro is located at one end of the wider segment 41, and the other end has a male buckle 413. One end of the narrower segment 421 is sewn with a hoop 4212 for the wider segment 41 encircled through, and the other end has a female buckle 4213 for connecting with the male buckle 413. For another example, another cotton-like sticky piece 412 is disposed at one end of the narrower segment 421, or a piece of fabric that has a cotton-like surface is used as the narrower segment 421 which can be adhered to by the sticky piece 412. The other end of the narrower segment 421 has a female buckle 4213 for connecting with the male buckle 413. By the way, the maternity belt 40 is an underclothes, whose preferred materials include gas-permeability, absorbing sweat, soft fabric etc. The hoop 4212 is made from the stainless steel. The sticky piece 412 has a surface which has a lot of hair-like hangnails.
Refer to FIG. 4B for the assembly diagram according to the second preferred embodiment of this invention. The wider segment 41 and the independent element 42 are assembled as follows. The wider segment 41 in FIG. 4A is encircled through the hoop 4212 to fasten the same by the sticky piece 412, and the female buckle 4213 at the other end is connected with the male buckle 413, so that the length of the ring band 43 varies with the dresser's waistline (shown as single-arrow). Buckles in FIG. 4A can be also disposed in multiplicity sites of the segment 41 or 421, so the connecting portion of the buckles can be adjusted along the direction of the waistline to fit the dressers, and the wider segment 41 can be adjusted to the front of the lower abdomen of the dresser (shown as double-arrow). After the aforesaid steps, the shoulder band 423 a and 423 b are adhered to the surface of the wider segment 41 through their sticky piece 4231.
Refer to FIG. 5 for the third preferred embodiment according to this invention. The maternity belt 50 includes ring band 43, supporting piece 422 and soft pad 4211 shown in FIG. 4B. The steps of assembling includes: crossing the shoulder band 51 a and 51 b, and then connecting them with the wider segment 41. A brace fastener 52 is used to bind the cross portion of the shoulder band 51 a and 51 b to avoid sliding down from the shoulder of the dresser.
FIG. 6A is a front view of a pregnant woman wearing the maternity belt of the invention. When dressing the maternity belt 40 shown as FIG. 4, the dresser put the narrower segment 421 and the supporting piece 422 on his or her back (shown in FIG. 6B), and the two ends of the narrower segment 421 are stretched along the waistline of the dressers. As shown, the male buckle of the wider segment 41 (not shown in FIG. 6A) is fastened to the female buckle 4213, and the wider segment 41 is encircled through the hoop 4212 to fasten the same by the sticky piece(not shown in FIG. 6A). The longer turnback represents that the ring band 43 binds the waist more tightly. For making the central region of the wider segment 41 aim at the lower abdomen, the wider segment 41 is adjusted to the suitable location by changing the length of the turnback, or by selecting the suitable the male buckle and the female buckle. After that, the shoulder band 423 a and 423 b are operatively surrounded from back to the upper side of the shoulder, crossed in front of chest, and then pulled downward for adhering to the outer surface of the wider segment 41, and for erecting the supporting piece and the soft pad at the dresser's back.
FIG. 6B is a side view of a pregnant woman wearing the maternity belt of the invention. The S-shape back contour of the dresser is slightly hollow at the waist. For dressing the maternity belt of the invention, the wider segment 41 is pulled upward and backward by two forces along the direction indicated by the arrows as shown in FIG. 6B. At that time, the supporting piece 422 support exactly at the upper back, and the soft pad 4211 is pressed against the hollow at the back of the waist. The supporting piece 422 is functional to support the vertebra to prevent the possible hurt. The soft pad 4211 can protect the vertebra and make the pregnant woman more comfortable when the dresser sits or lies down.
Characteristics and advantages of the invention are listed:

1. A upward force supplied by the shoulder band to reduce the burden of the waist of the pregnant women efficiently.
2. A supporting structure provided to prevent the vertebra from the hurt.
3. Adjusted ring band to prevent the abdomen of the pregnant women from discomfort.
4. Never sliding down of the shoulder bands.
5. No turning the maternity belt inside out.
6. Additional soft pad for more comfortable.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A maternity belt comprising:

a ring band, used to support the lower abdomen of a dresser, and to surround the waist of the dresser; and

a shoulder band, being across the shoulder of the dresser, and having two ends to connect with the ring band, wherein the two ends are respectively located at the front and the back of the dresser.

2. The maternity belt of claim 1, wherein the shoulder band forks to form a neckband.

3. The maternity belt of claim 1, wherein the ring band includes a wider segment for supporting the lower abdomen of the dresser, and a narrower segment for surrounding the waist of the dresser, wherein the wider segment is connected with one end of the shoulder band, and the narrower segment is connected with the other end of the shoulder band.

4. The maternity belt of claim 3, wherein the wider segment has two ends, one of which is adhered to one end of the narrower segment, and the other end of which is buckled with the other end of the narrower segment.

5. The maternity belt of claim 4, wherein the wider segment has a sticky piece at one end, and a male buckle at the other end.

6. The maternity belt of claim 5, wherein one end of the narrower segment has a fabricfabric surface for the sticky piece adhering to, and the other end has a female buckle for connecting with the male buckle of the wider segment.

7. The maternity belt of claim 5, wherein one end of the narrower segment has a hoop, and the other end has a female buckle for connecting with the male buckle of the wider segment and the wider segment is encircled through the hoop to fasten the same by the sticky piece.

8. A maternity belt comprising:

a ring band, including a wider segment and a narrower segment, wherein the wider segment is used to support the lower abdomen of a dresser;

a supporting piece, connected to the upper side of the narrower segment to support the back of the dresser; and

two shoulder bands, being across the shoulder of the dresser, each of the shoulder bands having one end connected to the upper side of the supporting piece, and the other end connected to the wider segment.

9. The maternity belt of claim 8, wherein the supporting piece includes an elastic stripe underneath a fabric.

10. The maternity belt of claim 8, wherein the wider segment includes a pocket.

11. The maternity belt of claim 8, wherein the wider segment has one end to adhere to one end of the narrower segment, and the other ends of the wider segment and the narrower segment are buckled together.

12. The maternity belt of claim 11, wherein the wider segment has a sticky piece at one end, and a male buckle at the other end.

13. The maternity belt of claim 12, wherein one end of the narrower, segment has a fabric surface for the sticky piece adhering to, and the other end has a female buckle for connecting with the male buckle of the wider segment.

14. The maternity belt of claim 12, wherein one end of the narrower segment has a hoop, and the other end has a female buckle for connecting with the male buckle of the wider segment and the wider segment is encircled through the hoop to fasten the same by the sticky piece.

15. A maternity belt comprising:

a ring band, including a wider segment and a narrower segment, wherein the wider segment is used to support the lower abdomen of a dresser, and the narrower segment which is used to surround the waist of the dresser has a soft pad to support the back of the dresser; and

16. The maternity belt of claim 15, further including a supporting piece disposed between the narrower segment and the shoulder bands.

17. The maternity belt of claim 16, wherein the supporting piece includes an elastic stripe underneath a fabric.

18. The maternity belt of claim 15, wherein the wider segment has one end to adhere to one end of the narrower segment, and the other ends of the wider segment and the narrower segment are buckled together.

19. The maternity belt of claim 18, wherein the wider segment has a sticky piece at one end, and a male buckle at the other end.

20. The maternity belt of claim 18, wherein one end of the narrower segment has a hoop, and the other end has a female buckle for connecting with the male buckle and the wider segment is encircled through the hoop to fasten the same by the sticky piece.