WO2005102082A2

WO2005102082A2 - Strapless breast form attachment system

Info

Publication number: WO2005102082A2
Application number: PCT/US2005/000829
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ajit Khubani
Original assignee: Telebrands Corp.
Priority date: 2004-04-07
Filing date: 2005-01-11
Publication date: 2005-11-03
Also published as: WO2005102082A3; CN1679422A

Abstract

A sanitary strapless breast form attachment system which attaches a brassiere or prosthesis to a user's breast or chest using replaceable adhesives applied to a landing strip on the brassiere or prosthesis.

Description

STRAPLESS BREAST FORM ATTACHMENT SYSTEM

Cross Reference to Related Application

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 60/560,434, filed April 7, 2004, under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) .

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a sanitary strapless breast form attachment system which attaches a brassiere or prosthesis to a user's breast or chest using replaceable adhesives.

Background of the Invention

Strapless breast forms which attach to a user' s skin or chest using replaceable adhesives are known in the art. For example, U.S. Patent No. 5,755,611 provides two double-sided tape strips for foam breast cups in which one side of each tape strip carries a skin-friendly adhesive layer which attaches to the wearer' s breast and the other side of which attaches directly to the inside surface of the foam breast cup. To reuse the breast cup once the skin-friendly adhesive has lost its adhesion, a liquid renewer adhesive must be applied to the wearer's side of the tape strips. U.S. Patent No. 5,792,292 describes a soft elastic silicone rubber breast prosthesis which is encased between front and rear polyethylene films and which has a groove formed along the margin of the rear film of the prosthesis. One side of an attachment film is bonded in the groove in the rear film of the prosthesis; the other side of the attachment film bears a releasable adhesive bond means, such as the hooks of a hook and loop fastener. A base film having a skin-compatible adhesive on one side and a complementary releasable adhesive bond means, such as the loops of a hook and loop fastener, on the other side is bonded to the releasable adhesive bond means of the attachment film. When the skin-compatible adhesive loses its adhesion, the base film with its releasable adhesive bond means can be stripped off and replaced.

Summary of the Invention

It is an object of this invention to provide a sanitary strapless breast form attachment system which attaches a brassiere or prosthesis to a user's breast or chest using replaceable adhesives. Another object of this invention is to provide a breast form attachment system which provides that no adhesive is exposed when the breast form is not in use thereby preventing dust particles or other substances from attaching or becoming entangled in such adhesive. A further object of the invention is to provide a breast form attachment which allows for use of the breast form inside a conventional brassiere without any adhesive. An additional object of the invention is to provide a strapless breast form attachment system for a breast form having a front side and a rear side, and (1) a landing strip having a first side and a second side, the first side attached to the rear side of the breast form; and (2) one or more pads, each pad having a first adhesive on a first side which can adhere to the second side of the landing strip, and a second adhesive on a second side which can adhere to a user' s skin, such that the first side of the landing strip is attached to the rear side of the breast form with a stronger bond than the bond provided by the first adhesive and the second adhesive, and the first adhesive provides a stronger bond with the landing strip than the second adhesive provides to the user's skin. The invention can further provide: (1) the landing strip having indicia indicating where to place the pads on the landing strip; (2) a carrier sheet for holding one or more pads before use; (3) each pad having a release sheet attached to the second adhesive on the second side; (4) the landing strip being formed from polyurethane or polyester; (5) the second side of the landing strip being substantially smooth; and/or (6) each pad having a tab portion indicated by indicia on the pad's substrate. Another object of the invention is to provide a method of attaching a strapless breast form having a front side and a rear side to a user having the steps of: (1) attaching a first adhesive bearing side of a substrate to a landing strip which is bonded to the rear side of the breast form; (2) removing a release sheet from a second adhesive bearing side of the substrate; and/or (3) attaching the second adhesive bearing side of the substrate to the user's skin. This method can also include the steps of: (1) removing the substrate from a carrier sheet to expose the first adhesive bearing side; and/or (2) aligning the first adhesive bearing side with indicia on the landing strip. A further object of the invention is to provide a method of providing reusable attachment areas on a breast form having the steps of: (1) forming the breast form with a front side and a rear side with a substantially smooth continuous surface; and (2) attaching one or more landing strips to one or more locations on the rear side, each landing strip having at least one side with a smooth continuous surface; such that the at least one side is not attached to the rear side.

Brief Description Of The Drawings

Fig. 1 illustrates a rear view of a strapless breast form including the attachment system according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional side view of the strapless breast form of Fig. 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 illustrates a close-up cross-sectional view of the attachment system for a breast form according to one embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 4 illustrates a side view of a part of the attachment system before use.

- 3 Detailed Description of the Invention

One embodiment of this invention is illustrated in Figs. 1- 3. In this embodiment, a breast form 10 having a front side 12 and a rear side 14 is formed from any of several materials known in the art, for example, various foams, rubbers, or cross-linked silicone encased in polyurethane sheeting. One side of one or more landing strips 16, 18 are attached to the rear side 14 of the breast form 10. The landing strips 16, 18 can be made from any of various sheet materials, for example polyurethane or polyester, provided that one side of the landing strips can be bound to the rear side 14 of the breast form 10, and the other side of the landing strips provides a surface which can be temporarily bonded to an adhesive. One benefit of the landing strips 16, 18 is to protect the rear side 14 of the breast form from damage caused by repeated application and removal of adhesives directly to the surface of breast form 10. The materials and/or processes used to attach the landing strips to the breast form 10 should provide a bond having a greater adhesive force with the rear side 14 of the breast form than with any adhesive applied to the other side of the landing strips 16, 18. In one embodiment of this invention, the bond is permanent and is achieved using a permanent adhesive 20, for example, an acrylate designed for medical/surgical use. Should a user wish to use the breast form 10 as an insert in a conventional brassiere without the attachment system, the landing strips 16, 18, in one embodiment, provide a smooth surface which will not adhere to, or provide a rough surface against, the user's skin. If a user wishes to avoid having to use the straps of a conventional brassiere, the breast form of this invention can be temporarily adhered to the user's skin. In one embodiment, this o - temporary adherence is provided by double-stick pads 30. These double-stick pads 30 have a substrate layer 32, a skin compatible adhesive 34 on one side, and a landing strip compatible adhesive 36 on the other side. To protect the adhesives 34, 36 before use, each side of the double-stick pads 30 can be provided with release films 42 which a user can remove before use and/or, as shown in Fig. 4, one side of the pads can be provided on, and protected by, a carrier sheet 44. In one embodiment, when a user desires to use the breast form 10, the user peels a double-stick pad 30 from a carrier sheet 44 and places the now exposed landing strip compatible adhesive 36 on the pad 30. To properly position the pad 30, the landing strips 16,18 are provided with indicia 40 to guide the user where to place the pads. These indicia 40 can be printed on the landing strips 16,18 and can be in many forms,, for example, words such as "Attach Here", an outline in the shape of the pad, or a differently colored area. Once the pad or pads 30 are properly placed, the user can remove the release film(s) 42, and attach the breast form 10 to the user' s body by pressing the skin-compatible adhesive 34 to the skin. After use, the user peels off the breast form 10. Since the landing strip adhesive 36 provides a bond between the double-stick pad 30 and the landing strip 16, 18 which is greater than the bond the skin-compatible adhesive 34 provides between the user's skin and the double-stick pad 30, the double- stick pad 30 will remain attached to the landing strip 16, 18. When the skin-compatible adhesive 34 on the pad 30 loses its adhesive ability, the user can remove the pad 30 from the landing strip 16,18 and apply a new pad 30. In one embodiment, the substrate layer 32 can include a tab portion 38 extending beyond the area having the landing strip adhesive 36 to facilitate the removal of the pad 30 from the landing strips 16, 18. When the skin-compatible adhesive 34 is substantially clear, this tab portion 38 can be indicated by indicia, for example a different color, printed on the substrate layer 32. The skin co paTiible adhesive 34 can be made of any of various known materials which are known not to irritate the skin, for example, acrylates developed for medical/surgical uses. The landing strip compatible adhesive 36 can be made of any of various known materials which can provide a stronger bond with the landing strips 16,18 than with the adherence provided by the skin compatible adhesive 34 to the user' s skin, for example, synthetic rubber based adhesives developed for medical/surgical uses. To simplify the manufacture of the breast form 10 and the application of the landing strips 16,18, the rear side 14 of the breast form is continuously smooth and is devoid of any grooves or other hole-like depressions. Further, the landing strips 16,18 can be attached after any curing steps, such as heating, which may be required to mold the breast form material. In one embodiment, the adhesive 20 is manufactured on one side of the landing strips 16, 18 and is applied at room temperature to the rear side 14 of the breast form 10 by removing a release sheet (not shown) which protects this adhesive 20 before use, and by pressing the adhesive from the other side of the landing strips against the rear side. While this invention has been described with respect to certain embodiments, the attached claims should not be read as being so limited, since to one skilled in the art, numerous variations and modifications of the components and methods will be readily apparent without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A strapless breast form attachment system for a breast form having a front side and a rear side comprising: a landing strip having a first side and a second side, the first side attached to the rear side of the breast form; and one or more pads, each pad having a first adhesive on a first side which can adhere to the second side of the landing strip, and a second adhesive on a second side which can adhere to a user's skin; such that the first side of the landing strip is attached to the rear side of the breast form with a stronger bond than the bond provided by the first adhesive and the second adhesive, and the first adhesive provides a stronger bond with the landing strip than the second adhesive provides to the user's skin.

2. The attachment system of claim 1 wherein the landing strip further comprises indicia indicating where to place the pads on the landing strip.

3. The attachment system of claim 1 further comprising a carrier sheet for holding one or more pads before use. . The attachment system of claim 1 wherein each pad further comprises a release sheet attached to the second adhesive on the second side.

5. The attachment system of claim 1 wherein the landing strip is formed from polyurethane or polyester.

6. The attachment system of claim 1 wherein the second side of the landing strip is substantially smooth.

_ o _

7. The attachment system of claim 1 wherein each pad further comprises a tab portion.

8. A method of attaching a strapless breast form having a front side and a rear side to a user comprising the steps of: attaching a first adhesive bearing side of a substrate to a landing strip which is bonded to the rear side of the breast form; removing a release sheet from a second adhesive bearing side of the substrate; and attaching the second adhesive bearing . side of the substrate to the user's skin.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of removing the substrate from a carrier sheet to expose the first adhesive bearing side.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of attaching the first adhesive bearing side to the breast form further comprises the step of aligning the first adhesive bearing side with indicia on the landing strip.

11. A method of providing reusable attachment areas on a breast form comprising the steps of: forming the breast form with a front side and a rear side with a substantially smooth continuous surface; and attaching one or more landing strips to one or more locations on the rear side, each landing strip having at least one side with a smooth continuous surface; such that the at least one side is not attached to the rear side.