Athletic Bra Composite Cups for High-Impact Support and Comfort
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional high-impact athletic bras often lack comfort while effectively reducing breast momentum during intense activities, particularly for individuals with larger breasts, due to the use of inflexible materials and structures like underwires and rigid cups.
Innovation Solution
An athletic bra design featuring a front and rear panel, straps, and an underband, constructed with a combination of polyamide and spandex fabric, incorporating foam and double knit fabric cups with a polyurethane adhesive, and seamless edges to minimize breast movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If underwires and rigid molded cups are used to support breasts during high impact activities, then breast movement is restricted and support is improved, but comfort deteriorates and the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces rigid molded cups with flexible multi-layer fabric cups comprising a outer shell layer, an inner layer, and a mid-layer. These flexible fabric cups provide necessary support during high impact activities while maintaining comfort against the skin, eliminating the need for rigid structures that cause discomfort.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite material construction with multiple fabric layers including polyamide-spandex blends in the outer shell and inner layer, combined with foam material in the mid-layer. This composite structure provides both the support needed for high impact activities and the comfort of soft, flexible materials that conform to the body.
2Reliability
If compression is applied to press breasts toward the body to restrict movement, then breast momentum is reduced, but comfort and breathability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs flexible fabric construction with breathable material properties that provide gentle compression to control breast movement during high impact activities. The multi-layer fabric structure allows for air circulation and moisture management, maintaining comfort while providing necessary support without excessive compression.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite fabric structure with polyamide-spandex blends provides elastic compression that adapts to body movement, controlling breast momentum while maintaining breathability and comfort through the engineered material properties of the fabric layers.
3Reliability
If inflexible or rigid materials are used to encapsulate and hold breasts in place, then breast movement is restricted, but comfort and adaptability to body motion deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses dynamic, flexible fabric materials that adapt to body motion during high impact activities. The multi-layer fabric construction with elastic components allows the cups to move and conform with the body's natural motion while maintaining breast position stability, providing both support and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite fabric structure combines materials with different elastic properties to create cups that are stable enough to control breast movement but flexible enough to adapt to body motion, achieving both position stability and adaptability through material engineering.
Data Source
AI summary
An athletic bra includes a front panel, a rear panel, a first strap, a second strap, and an underband coupled to the front panel and the rear panel. The first strap and the second strap connect the front panel to the rear panel. The front panel includes an outer shell and an inner layer, and a first cup and a second cup are positioned within the front panel. At least one of the first cup and the second cup is coupled to at least one of the outer shell and the inner layer, such that the at least one of the first cup and the second cup is not removable.