WO2004089129A1

WO2004089129A1 - Brassiere

Info

Publication number: WO2004089129A1
Application number: PCT/KR2003/001219
Authority: WO
Inventors: Young-Woon An
Original assignee: Young-Woon An
Priority date: 2003-04-14
Filing date: 2003-06-20
Publication date: 2004-10-21
Also published as: KR200322620Y1; AU2003245074A1

Abstract

Disclosed is a brassiere, including a front part, a back part and a connection part, in which the front part and the back part have a removable fastening system, such as a slide fastener and a snap fastener, so that the back part is fastened to or removed from the front part. Thus, the front part or the back part of the brassiere can be replaced with new ones when being old or according to the tastes of the wearer. Also, the connection part of the brassiere includes a connecting system, such as a slide fastener and a snap fastener, and can be fastened even though a hook of a conventional brassiere is not used.

Description

BRASSIERE

Technical Field

The present invention relates, in general, to brassieres, and, more specifically, to a brassiere including a front part, a back part, and a connection part, characterized in that the front part and the back part have a removable fastening system so that the back part is fastened to or removed from the front part, and the connection part has a connecting system according to the principle same to the removable fastening system.

Background Art

Generally, a brassiere is a female underwear functioning to surround and support the breast of the wearer. In addition, the brassiere is used to protect the breast, and reform the shape of the breast, thereby producing a better looking silhouette of the upper part of the body of the wearer. Thus, the brassiere, useful as a requisite of modern women, is variously shaped according to cup shapes, shoulder straps, and the presence of pads. However, in cases where the brassiere is wrongly selected, the bodyline of the wearer is spoiled or discomfort in the breast is caused. Hence, brassieres emphasizing comfortable wearing and functionality as well as designs have been produced, to improve the appearance and health of the wearers.

Further, in addition to the cups of the brassieres, a variety of underwires are provided, according to the bodyline of the wearer. Furthermore, a brassiere having no bias tape attached onto a back part thereof, which is recently filed, does not appear on the surface of the outer garments and is popular in hot environments.

FIG. 11 shows a back part 20 of a conventional brassiere, in which the back part 20 is integrated with a front part 10. In addition, a core 53 made of polyurethane is provided at a boundary portion between the front part 10 and the back part 20, and functions to prevent the back part 20 of the brassiere from wrinkling or causing discomfort when rolling upon the activities of the wearer. The back part 20 is made of an elastic material and has relatively weak strength. Accordingly, the back part 20 of the brassiere may be damaged upon frequent washing thereof, and may be torn when being connected by a hook 50 as a connection part of the brassiere, therefore resulting in disposing the brassiere, regardless of the normal state of other parts thereof.

FIG. 12 shows the hook 50 as the connection part of a conventional brassiere, in which several pairs of arcuate female hooks 51 are hooked by a pair of male hooks 52. Conventional brassieres have the connection part as mentioned above, with the female hooks 51 to adjust the size and shape of the brassiere according to the body size and shape of the wearer. As such, every pair of the female hooks 51 are separately attached onto respective support cloths 35, and then the support cloths, each attached with two female hooks 51, are further attached onto the contact cloth 40. Further, a separate dying process of respective support cloths 35 results in the development of different colors and complex manufacturing process of the brassiere.

In addition, the connection part of the brassiere is made, separately from the back part 20 of the brassiere. Thus, the manufacturing processes of the brassiere increase in the number thereof and are complicated. Particularly, only after the front part 10 and the back part 20 are manufactured, the connection part is attached to the back part 20, consequently reducing work efficiency.

Disclosure of the Invention

Therefore, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a brassiere, including a front part, a back part, and a connection part, characterized in that the front part and the back part have a removable fastening system for slide fastening and snap fastening, whereby the front part or the back part can be replaced with new ones when being old or according to the tastes of the wearer. Further, the connection part has a connecting system for slide fastening and snap fastening and thus can be firmly fastened even though a hook of a conventional brassiere is not used. To accomplish the above aspect of the present invention, there is provided a brassiere including a front part, a back part, and a connection part, in which the front part and the back part have a removable fastening system so that the back part is fastened to or removed from the front part.

As for one mode for carrying out this invention, the removable fastening system includes a male binding portion and a female binding portion so that the male binding portion is slide-fastened to or slide-removed from the female binding portion, the male binding portion including a sliding head and being provided along each end of the back part connected to the front part, and the female binding portion including a plurality of the receiving recesses and being provided along each end of the front part connected to the back part in which a slit is formed along a predetermined part of the female binding portion to communicate with the receiving recess and has a width narrower than that of the receiving recess.

As for another mode for carrying out this invention, the removable fastening system includes a male track and a female track so that the male track is snap-fastened to or snap-removed from the female track, the male track including a wedge blade and being provided along each end of the back part connected to the front part, and the female track including a plurality of the receiving recesses and being provided along each end of the front part connected to the back part in which a slit is formed along a predetermined part of the female track to communicate with the receiving recess and has a width narrower than that of the receiving recess.

As for still another mode for carrying out this invention, an inside surface of the back part is embossed to have embossments. As for still another mode for carrying out this invention, the connection part includes a male binding portion provided at a first end of the connection part and a female binding portion provided at a second end of the connection part so that the male binding portion is slide-fastened to the female binding portion, the male binding portion including a sliding head, and the female binding portion including a plurality of the receiving recesses, with a slit formed along a predetermined part of the female binding portion to communicate with the receiving recess, and having a width narrower than that of the receiving recess.

As for still another mode for carrying out this invention, the connection part includes a male track provided at a first end of the connection part and a female track provided at a second end of the connection part so that the male track is snap-fastened to the female track, the male track including a wedge blade, and the female track including a plurality of the receiving recesses, with a slit formed along a predetermined part of the female track to communicate with the receiving recess, and having a width narrower than that of the receiving recess. As for still another mode for carrying out this invention, the connection part includes a contact cloth, a support cloth attached onto the contact cloth, and a plurality of female binding portions or female tracks attached in parallel rows onto the support cloth.

As for still another mode for carrying out this invention, the connection part is integrated with the back part by extending a length of the back part to form an extension, folding the extension of the back part into halves, inserting a support cloth into a folded junction of the extension, and attaching the connection part onto an outer surface of the folded extension.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a back part fastened to a front part of a brassiere according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line A- A' of FIG. 1 ;

FIG. 3 shows the back part separated from the front part of the brassiere shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 shows a back part separated from a front part of a brassiere according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the back part fastened to the front part of the brassiere of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 shows a fastened connection part of a brassiere according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line C-C; of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 shows a separated connection part of the brassiere of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 shows a separated connection part of a brassiere according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 10a is an exploded perspective view of a separated connection part of a brassiere according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10b is an exploded perspective view of a separated connection part of a brassiere according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 shows a front part and a back part of a conventional brassiere; and

FIG. 12 shows a hook of the conventional brassiere.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Reference should now be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components.

FIG. 1 illustrates a fastened back part 20 of a brassiere according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The brassiere includes a front part 10, a back part 20, and a connection part, in which the front part 10 and the back part 20 have a removable fastening system so that the back part 20 is slide-fastened to or slide-removed from the front part 10.

A male binding portion 21 is provided along each end of the back part 20 connected to the front part 10, and a female binding portion 11 is provided along each end of the front part 10 comiected to the back part 20 so as not to be detached from the front part 10. Any one terminal end of the female binding portion 11 of the front part 10 is stopped, so that the male binding portion 21 of the back part 20 cannot be removed from the female binding portion 11.

The portion fastened between the female and male binding portions 11 and 21 can perform the function the same as a core 53 made of polyurethane in a conventional brassiere (FIG. 11). Thus, in the present invention, the core 53 is not additionally required to support the back part 20 of the brassiere.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A' of FIG. 1 , in which the male binding portion 21 of the back part 20 is slide-fastened to the female binding portion 11 of the front part 10.

The female binding portion 11 of the front part 10 has a receiving recess 12 to be locked with a sliding head 22 of the male binding portion 21 of the back part 20. In addition, the female binding portion 11 has a slit 13 formed along a predetermined part of the female binding portion 11 to communicate with the receiving recess 12 and having a width narrower than that of the receiving recess

12, so that the sliding head 22 of the back part 20 is not removed from the receiving recess 12 of the front part 10. Further, since the sliding head 22 of the back part 20 has a width equal to that of the receiving recess 12 of the front part 10, it can be securely fitted into the receiving recess 12. In addition, a locking hole 14 is formed at each of the upper and lower ends of the female binding portion 11 of the front part 10. A locking protrusion 23 is formed at each of the upper and lower ends of the male binding portion 21 of the back part 20, corresponding to the position of the locking hole 14. Thereby, after the male binding portion 21 of the back part 20 is slide-fastened to the female binding portion 11 of the front part 10, the locking protrusion 23 of the male binding portion 21 is fitted into the locking hole 14 of the female binding portion 11.

On the other hand, the female binding portion 11 and the male binding portion 21 are made of flexible materials, for example, polyester or nylon, and are not exposed outside the front part 10 and the back part 20, thus not coming into direct contact with the skin of the wearer.

FIG. 3 shows the back part 20 separated from the front part 10 of the brassiere of FIG. 1.

As described in FIG. 2, the female binding portion 11 is provided along each end of the front part 10 connected to the back part 20, and has the receiving recess 12 in which the slit 13 is formed along a predetermined part of the female binding portion 11 to communicate with the receiving recess 12 and has a width narrower than that of the receiving recess 12. Further, the male binding portion 21 having the sliding head 22 is provided along each end of the back part 20 connected to the front part 10. Moreover, with the aim of more firmly fastening the female and male binding portions 11 and 21, the locking hole 14 is formed at each of the upper and lower ends of the female binding portion 11 of the front part 10 and the locking protrusion 23 is formed at each of the upper and lower ends of the male binding portion 21 of the back part 20, corresponding to the position of the locking hole 14. Thereby, after the male binding portion 21 of the back part 20 is slide-fastened to the female binding portion 11 of the front part 10, the locking protrusion 23 of the male binding portion 21 is fitted into the locking hole 14 of the female binding portion 11.

In recent years, there are produced brassieres each having no bias tape attached to an upper edge and a lower edge of the back part 20. Such a product does not appear on the surface of outer garments, but may be wrinkled or caused discomfort when rolling according to the activities of the wearer. To solve the above problems, an inside surface of a back part 20 of the above brassiere is subjected to an embossing treatment to have embossments 24. The embossments 24 are applied only to the upper edge and the lower edge of the back part 20 conventionally treated with the bias tape, or to the total surface of the back part 20. The embossments 24 function to prevent movement of the brassiere, and to emit far infrared rays beneficial to humans by processing ceramics, silver, or charcoal. FIG. 4 shows a separated back part 20 of a brassiere according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Such a brassiere includes a front part 10, a back part 20 and a connection part. In such a case, the front part 10 and the back part 20 have a removable fastening system, such as a snap fastener, whereby the back part 20 can be firmly fastened to or removed from the front part 10.

A female track 16 is linearly provided along each end of the front part 10 connected to the back part 20. Also, a male track 26 is linearly provided along each end of the back part 20 connected to the front part 10, and thus is snap- fastened to the female track 16 of the front part 10. The portion fastened between the female track 16 of the front part 10 and the male track 26 of the back part 20 can perform the function the same as a core 53 in a conventional brassiere, as mentioned in FIG. 1, and thus, acts to support the back part 20.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the state of the male track 26 of the back part 20 being snap-fastened to the female track 16 of the front part 10, in the brassiere of FIG. 4.

The female track 16 of the front part 10 has a receiving recess 17 that is fitted with a wedge blade 27 of the male track 26 of the back part 20. Further, the female track 16 has a slit 18 formed along a predetermined part thereof to communicate with the receiving recess 17 and having a width narrower than that of the receiving recess 17. Thus, the wedge blade 27 of the back part 20 snap- fastened to the front part 10 camiot be removed from the receiving recess 17 of the front part 10.

The female track 16 and the male track 26 are made of flexible elastic materials, whereby the wedge blade 27 of the male track 26 is snap-fastened to the receiving recess 17 of the female track 16 while being elastically fitted therein. The wedge blade 27 has a wedge-shaped cross-section for easy fastening into the receiving recess 17 while passing through the slit 18. Additionally, the wedge blade 27 has an inclined surface formed at a rear end thereof so as not to be removed from the slit 18 after the wedge blade 27 is snap- fastened to the receiving recess 17.

The female track 16 and the male track 26 are not exposed outside the front part 10 and the back part 20, and do not come into direct contact with the skin of the wearer. FIG. 6 shows the fastened state of a connection part 30a of a brassiere according to a third embodiment of the present invention. As such, a male binding portion 41 having a sliding head 42 that is provided at a first end of the connection part 30a is slide-fastened to a female binding portion 31 having a receiving recess 32 provided at a second end of the connection part 30a. As such, the male binding portion 41 is provided at the first end of the connection part 30a, and the female binding portion 31 is provided at the second end of the connection part 30a so as not to be detached therefrom. Further, any one terminal end of the female binding portion 31 is stopped, whereby the male binding portion 41 is not removed from the female binding portion 31. FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line C-C of FIG. 6, in which the female binding portion 31 of the connection part 30a is slide-fastened to the male binding portion 41 of the connection part 30a.

In such a case, the slide fastening structure of the connection part 30a is the same to that of the front part 10 and the back part 20. The female binding portion 31 of the connection part 30a has the receiving recess 32 that is fitted with the sliding head 42 of the male binding portion 41. Further, the female binding portion 31 has a slit 33 formed along a predetermined part thereof to communicate with the receiving recess 32 and having a width narrower than that of the receiving recess 32. Thereby, the sliding head 42 of the male binding portion 41 cannot be removed from the receiving recess 32 of the female binding portion 31. In addition, since the sliding head 42 has a width equal to that of the receiving recess 32, it can be securely fitted into the receiving recess 32.

Further, in order to fix the female binding portion 31 and the male binding portion 41 slide-fastened together, a locking hole 34 is formed at each of the upper and lower ends of the female binding portion 31 of the connection part

30a, and a locking protrusion 43 is formed at each of the upper and lower ends of the male binding portion 41 of the connection part 30a, corresponding to the position of the locking hole 34. Accordingly, after the male binding portion 41 is slide-fastened to the female binding portion 31, the locking protrusion 43 of the male binding portion 41 is fitted into the locking hole 34 of the female binding portion 31.

Meanwhile, the connection part 30a includes a contact cloth 40 which comes into contact with the skin of the wearer, only a single support cloth 35 attached on the contact cloth 40, and a plurality of female binding portions 31 attached in parallel rows onto the support cloth 35.

Thusly structured connection part 30a has an improvement in an inefficient manufacturing process of a connection part of a conventional brassiere, such as separate processing and attaching of respective support cloths 35, by separately attaching every pair of arcuate female hooks 51 onto respective support cloths 35 of the conventional brassiere, followed by further attaching the support cloths 35 each attached with a pair of the female hooks 51 onto a contact cloth 40 of the conventional brassiere (FIG. 12).

In the present invention, the contact cloth 40 of the connection part 30a is made of a raised fabric, on which the support cloth 35 without elasticity, for example, a TY fabric, is attached by a sewing process or an ultrasonic process.

Then, a plurality of the female binding portions 31 are attached in parallel rows at regular intervals onto the support cloth 35 so that they are not moved thereon.

FIG. 8 shows the female binding portion 31 and the male binding portion 41 of the coimection part 30a in the state of being separated, in the brassiere of FIG. 6. As described in FIG. 7, the male binding portion 41 having the sliding head 42 is provided at a first end of the connection part 30a, and thus is slide- fastened to the female binding portion 31 that is provided at a second end of the connection part 30a and has the receiving recess 32. Further, the female binding portion 31 has the slit 33 formed along a predetermined part of the female binding portion 31 to communicate with the receiving recess 32 and having a width narrower than that of the receiving recess 32. Furthermore, to fix the slide- fastened portions, the locking hole 34 is formed at each of the upper and lower ends of the female binding portion 31 of the connection part 30a, and the locking protrusion 43 is formed at each of the upper and lower ends of the male binding portion 41 of the connection part 30a, corresponding to the position of the locking hole 34. Thereby, after the male binding portion 41 is slide-fastened to the female binding portion 31 , the locking protrusion 43 of the male binding portion 41 is firmly fitted into the locking hole 34 of the female binding portion 31. FIG. 9 shows a separated connection part 30b of a brassiere according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention, in which a male track 37 having a wedge blade is provided at a first end of the connection part 30b, and a female track 36 having a plurality of receiving recesses is provided at a second end thereof. As in FIG. 9, the brassiere having the male track 37 snap-fastened to the female track 36 is externally shown.

The snap fastening structure of the connection part 30b is the same to that of the front part 10 and the back part 20 by the snap fastener. The female track 36 of the connection part 30b has a plurality of the receiving recesses each being fastened with the wedge blade of the male track 37. Also, the female track 36 has a slit formed along a predetermined part of the female track 36 to communicate with the receiving recess and having a width narrower than that of the receiving recess, as described in FIG. 5. In addition, the wedge blade has a wedge-shaped cross-section, with an inclined surface formed at a rear end of the blade, so as not to be removed from the receiving recess. On the other hand, the connection part 30b includes a contact cloth 40, only a single support cloth 35 attached on the contact cloth 40, and a plurality of female tracks 36 attached in parallel rows onto the support cloth 35, as described in FIG. 7. FIGS. 10a is an exploded perspective view of a connection part 30c of a brassiere according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 10b is an exploded perspective view of a connection part 30d of a brassiere according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 10a, the connection part 30c includes a male binding portion 41 provided at a first end of the connection part 30c and a plurality of female binding portions 31 provided at a second end of the connection part 30c for slide fastening. Further, as in FIG. 10b, the connection part 30d includes a male track 37 provided at a first end of the connection part 30d and a plurality of female tracks 36 provided at a second end of the connection part 30d for snap fastening. Upon manufacturing the connection part 30c and 30d, a back part 20 extends twice the length of the connection part 30c or 30d to form an extension, and the extension of the back part 20 is folded into halves, after which a support cloth 35 is inserted into a folded junction of the extension and then the connection part 30c or 30d is attached onto an outer surface of the folded extension and subjected to a sewing process or an ultrasonic process. Thereby, the connection part 30c or 30d is integrated with the back part 20.

The back part 20 of the above brassiere is made of an elastic material. Thus, in cases where the extension of the back part 20 is formed to prepare the connection part 30c and 30d, since the elastic material has a relatively weak strength, the male binding portion 41 slide-fastened to the female binding portion

31, and the male track 37 snap-fastened to the female track 36, may be detached therefrom. Hence, the support cloth 35 without elasticity is further used, thereby solving the above problem. Moreover, the connection part 30c and 30d is manufactured to be integrated with the back part 20, therefore resulting in shortened manufacturing periods without additional manufacturing processes which reduce manufacturing costs.

Industrial Applicability

As described above, the present invention provides a brassiere including a front part, a back part, and a connection part, in which the front part and the back part have a removable fastening system, such as a slide fastener and a snap fastener. Thus, the front part or the back part of the brassiere can be replaced with new ones, when being old or according to the tastes of the wearer. Further, the connection part of the brassiere can be firmly fastened by a slide fastener or a snap fastener even though a conventional hook is not used, and is manufactured to be integrated with the back part of the brassiere. Also, upon manufacturing the connection part, only a single support cloth is used, whereby manufacturing costs and periods can be reduced.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A brassiere, comprising a front part, a back part, and a connection part, in which the front part and the back part have a removable fastening system so that the back part is fastened to or removed from the front part.

2. The brassiere as defined in claim 1, wherein the removable fastening system comprises a male binding portion and a female binding portion so that the male binding portion is slide-fastened to or slide-removed from the female binding portion, the male binding portion including a sliding head and being provided along each end of the back part connected to the front part; and the female binding portion including a plurality of the receiving recesses and being provided along each end of the front part connected to the back part in which a slit is formed along a predetermined part of the female binding portion to communicate with the receiving recess, and has a width narrower than that of the receiving recess.

3. The brassiere as defined in claim 1, wherein the removable fastening system comprises a male track and a female track so that the male track is snap- fastened to or snap-removed from the female track, the male track including a wedge blade and being provided along each end of the back part connected to the front part; and the female track including a plurality of the receiving recesses and being provided along each end of the front part connected to the back part in which a slit is formed along a predetermined part of the female track to communicate with the receiving recess, and has a width narrower than that of the receiving recess.

4. The brassiere as defined in claim 1, wherein an inside surface of the back part is embossed to have embossments.

5. The brassiere as defined in claim 1, wherein the connection part comprises a male binding portion provided at a first end of the connection part and a female binding portion provided at a second end of the connection part so that the male binding portion is slide-fastened to the female binding portion, the male binding portion including a sliding head; and the female binding portion including a plurality of the receiving recesses, with a slit formed along a predetermined part of the female binding portion to communicate with the receiving recess and having a width narrower than that of the receiving recess.

6. The brassiere as defined in claim 1, wherein the connection part comprises a male track provided at a first end of the connection part and a female track provided at a second end of the connection part so that the male track is snap-fastened to the female track, the male track including a wedge blade; and the female track including a plurality of the receiving recesses, with a slit formed along a predetermined part of the female track to communicate with the receiving recess and having a width narrower than that of the receiving recess.

7. The brassiere as defined in claim 1, wherein the connection part comprises a contact cloth, a support cloth attached onto the contact cloth, and a plurality of female binding portions or female tracks attached in parallel rows onto the support cloth.

8. The brassiere as defined in claim 1, wherein the connection part is integrated with the back part by extending a length of the back part to form an extension, folding the extension of the back part into halves, inserting a support cloth into a folded junction of the extension, and attaching the connection part onto an outer surface of the folded extension.